Walking the Sky
by JediMara77
Summary: Luke and Mara accompany representatives from the Chiss Ascendancy and Empire of the Hand to investigate the remains of the long-lost Outbound Flight project. There, they uncover a mystery that may take lives to solve. Sequel to I, Mara Jade. L/M, AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Walking the Sky  
><strong>Author:<strong> JediMara77  
><strong>Characters:<strong> Mara Jade Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Soontir Fel, Chaf'orm'bintrano (Aristocra Formbi), Prard'ras'kleoni (General Drask), Daric LaRone, Dean Jinzler, Rida Hano (OC), Callista Masana  
><strong>Timeframe:<strong> 14 ABY, in the I, Mara Jade timeline, in which Mara became a Jedi Knight in 11 ABY and married Luke one year later. It is not necessary to read that fic to understand this one, although I would love it if you did.  
><strong>Genre:<strong> Drama, Mystery, Action  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker accompany representatives from the mysterious Chiss Ascendancy and Empire of the Hand to investigate the remains of the long-lost Outbound Flight project. Will investigating the past give the Skywalkers the knowledge to save their future?  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> Don't own anything, although I wish I owned Jedi Master!Luke (even though Mara would probably kill me).  
><strong>Acknowledgements:<strong> Thank you to **ginchy** for brainstorming, betaing, being my pregnancy advisor, and enthusiastically supporting this project before it was even conceived.  
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Cover by Iverna:

IMG DOT PHOTOBUCKET DOT COM /albums/v109/JediMara77/Fanfiction%20Images/JediMara77-wts DOT JPG

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_A/N: I needed a break from working on my other fic, so here it is. I have so much fic ADD._

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><span>CHAPTER 1<span>

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Strong winds whip around me as I bring my lightsaber up to guard. The magenta blade is bright in the darkness of night. I jump over bright tendrils of light that come from my combatant's weapon. She is taller than me, covered in black armor and wearing a triangular black headdress. I know her from my time in the Emperor's service. I do not like her.

And she does not like me. That is certain as she flicks her lightwhip again in my direction. I am familiar with the odd weapon, but have never fought against one before. I manage to hold my own, and in a moment of vanity, consider myself a much better fighter than this cyborg.

She wants to take me back to the Empire, but I do not want to go. I have other, more important things to accomplish. My master is dead and there is no place left for me in the new Empire, run by Ysanne Isard. I'd rather work for swoop gangs for the rest of my existence, a thought that brings an unexpected pang to my heart. I miss the Empire, and want it back, but I learned long ago that you can't always get what you want.

I wonder how she has found me. I will need to move on after this duel is over, create a new identity and find another way to make money. I've never had to worry about such things before, but now my life feels so incredibly unstable. I don't like having an unknown future.

It becomes clear that the duel will continue for a long time. The cyborg—her name is Lumiya—does not seem to tire, and neither will I. I will not give her that satisfaction.

But I am not familiar enough with her lightwhip and she soon gets the better of me. I am disarmed, but I still can protect myself. I reach down to my belt to remove my blaster…but it is not there. I force myself not to panic and reach for my vibroblade. That isn't there, either. I dive to the ground, evading another attack from Lumiya's lightwhip.

But then she is upon me, and there is nothing I can do. My connection to the Force, once strong and potent, has grown weak since the death of my master. I try to call my lightsaber back to my hand, but it will not come. Instead if makes a satisfying _thwat_ as it slaps against Lumiya's palm. Her expression is triumphant as she looks down at me, completely defenseless against her attack. For a moment, I think she might render me unconscious, and take me back to Isard. Back to the Empire that is falling into pieces.

But she does not. She is ruthless—a Sith—and draws back my own lightsaber. My eyes widen in fear as she stabs the violet blade into my swollen abdomen.

My last thought is that not only did I fail myself, but I also failed my unborn child. I failed in my most important task in life—being a mother.

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I woke suddenly, blinking my eyes rapidly against the sunlight streaming in through the window. On instinct, my hand reached below the covers to touch my stomach. I sighed with relief as I felt the small but pronounced bump, safe and sound.

My pulse raced, so I went through the breathing exercises Cilghal had taught me. Stress was not good for the baby, of course, and my nightmares weren't doing much good for my health. But no matter how many hours I meditated, no matter how much stress I removed from my life, that nightmare continued to plague me. It had started four months ago, when I'd become pregnant. It was always the same dream—that duel on Caprioril, only different. I'd lost my lightsaber in the duel against Lumiya, but had escaped with my life. In the dream, I was not so lucky.

The bed was empty, so I got up and went to the 'fresher, my normal morning routine. Thankfully, I hadn't yet gotten to the point when I had to pee every minute of the day, and I'd also just gotten over my regular bouts of morning sickness, which weren't that bad to begin with. All my friends who were mothers—Leia, Mirax, and Tyria, to name a few—cursed me for my relatively easy pregnancy. Of course, they didn't know about the dreams. Nobody did, but Luke.

It would have been futile not to tell him about the dreams. He knew immediately that something was wrong, the first time I woke up in a sweat. I'd feigned ignorance then, and claimed that I couldn't remember what I dreamed about. He let it go, but after the third time of bolting upright in the dark, he insisted that I tell him what was wrong. So I did.

He reacted as I expected, with concern over the welfare of our unborn child. He was ecstatic to become a father and would take every precaution to make sure our baby was healthy. Hearing that I dreamed about being stabbed in the stomach with my own lightsaber—by his ex-girlfriend, no less—did not bode well for his stress levels, either.

But impending fatherhood had made Luke more protective, more assertive, so he sat with me in the dark and discussed why I was having these dreams. He even led me in meditation, holding my hands just as we did when I was still an apprentice at the Academy and he forced me to participate in private meditation sessions. It had been beneficial even then, but once our bond in the Force solidified, meditating together was Luke's normal reaction whenever a problem arose. I still wasn't the biggest fan of meditation, but in this case, I acquiesced.

And I found that Luke's psychoanalysis was correct. The loss of my old lightsaber on Caprioril represented an inability to protect not only myself, but also my unborn child. Of course I always carried other weapons, but since becoming a Jedi, the lightsaber was my main symbol of protection. I prided myself on my fighting ability, even considering it my best asset as a Jedi. While it was still very odd to consider the fact that I was going to be a mother, and I felt less of an innate connection with the baby than Luke did, that "mother bantha" instinct was there from the beginning. If I couldn't defend myself, and my child, then I had failed.

Not only that, but the duel with Lumiya and the loss of my old lightsaber represented a clean break from my old life in the Empire. Lumiya was sent to bring me back, and I refused. I'd never been a big believer in symbolism, but even I had to admit that losing the lightsaber that the Emperor had given me represented the start of a new life.

After taking a shower and dressing myself in a loose tunic and pants (my jumpsuits were starting to get snug around the middle, much to my chagrin), I went into the common area. Luke was busy preparing breakfast. He was always a doting husband, and there were still some moments when I believed that I did not deserve him. We'd been married for two years and our relationship was better than ever, but sometimes, especially after having that nightmare, I wondered how in the galaxy I'd gotten to my place in life. And, not to mention, what my life would have been like if I hadn't met him.

I shook those thoughts from my mind as Luke glanced up at me and smiled. He was happy to see me, but also concerned. He always knew when I had a nightmare. They didn't happen every night, but they were frequent enough. He'd once suggested talking to Cilghal about it, but I refused. I didn't want to tell anyone about my dreams, and my fear of being a bad mother.

"You look nice," he said as he pulled away from my kiss. He placed a hand on my belly, his way of saying hello to our baby. Then his brow furrowed. "You okay?" He'd learned long ago that I didn't care to needlessly drone on about my dreams, but he always asked how I was anyway.

I nodded. I placed my hands on top of his, and gave a reassuring squeeze. "I'm fine. Don't worry." Luke had a tendency to take the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders, something that bothered me from the day I arrived at the Jedi Academy. He'd gotten much better about sharing his burdens, but he worried a lot about my well-being.

Luke squeezed back and changed the subject. He'd learned long ago the importance of abiding by the whims of a pregnant wife. "Are you ready to go?" Luke had an appointment to speak with the Senate appropriations committee, so we were leaving for Coruscant that morning. I was looking forward to the trip, although I hoped that Leia would lay off the baby talk. But, knowing Leia, those thoughts were most likely in vain.

"I just need to file a few reports with Tionne, and then I'll be ready." I crossed to the main computer terminal to do my work while Luke finished breakfast.

He clucked his tongue. "Waiting until the last minute to finish your work, Jedi Skywalker? I should punish you for that."

I flashed him a rude gesture over my shoulder. "That's what got me into this precarious situation, Farmboy." I rubbed my belly subconsciously.

He laughed and went back to making breakfast, leaving me to work. The reports were basically finished, and it didn't take long until Luke and I were sitting at the table together, sharing our meal. "You look nice, too," I told him, returning his earlier compliment. He also wore a casual tunic and pants, but I always appreciated seeing him wear something besides Jedi attire. I knew he'd packed his Jedi robes for his sessions in front of the Senate, as did I, but it was nice to pretend to be normal from time to time. Or, at the very least, it was nice to wear normal clothes.

He flashed me another smile. "Thanks."

"And you got a haircut." I'd mentioned that yesterday, but brought it up again to make him feel guilty. I fingered his blond hair, and briefly wondered if it would start turning gray after the baby arrived. Would my red-gold hair turn gray as well, or just go straight to white? "How come you'll get your hair cut for Borsk Fey'lya, and not for me?"

"How do you know it's for Fey'lya and not you?"

"I just know."

Luke had the decency to look sheepish. "But look at the nice breakfast I made you…"

"Yeah, yeah." I waved my hand over the table. "You're lucky you're a good cook, or I'd think twice about keeping you."

He raised his eyebrows at me. "I'm also cute."

I leaned over the table to give him another kiss. "That, too."

His eyes twinkled, and he leaned over to rub my belly again. "Not to mention a purveyor of good genes." He wiggled his eyebrows. He was so proud of knocking me up.

I shook my head and took a bite of toast. "Whatever, Son of Vader."

He made a face at me and continued to eat. Those types of comments never bothered him, and we often joked about our less than wholesome pasts. But even though he grew up without a father, he still had an aunt and uncle to look up to. Uncle Owen taught Luke everything he needed to know about being a father, and Luke never once doubted his ability to raise a child. He would do everything in his power to be the father he never had.

I, on the other hand, did not have any parenting role models. I grew up in the Imperial Palace, raised by nannies and governesses and even nanny droids. As soon as I was old enough, I spent most of my time in school or in various training classes, and those instructors became my caretakers. Since becoming ensconced in the New Republic, I'd been around mothers often enough to know the basics—feeding, diaper changing, rocking the baby to sleep. I'd read all the popular parenting books, and I knew that I would succeed as a mother. It was part of my personality, part of the old Emperor's Hand who would never fully go away—that I never failed in any mission. (Except for that one time on Tatooine, of course.) But that was okay with me. I'd forgiven myself for being the Emperor's Hand, and also learned that using my old training to my advantage wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

But succeeding as a mother and _being_a good mother were two totally different things. I didn't want to just go through the motions, and be a caretaker and protector. I wanted my children to have what I never did—someone to love them. Someone to comfort them when they fell. Someone to lean on.

I desperately wanted to be that person, but my dreams weren't helping very much in the confidence department. So I did what I did best. I ignored them as much as possible.

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We ate the rest of the meal in silence, and were soon ready to leave. Luke grabbed our bags and we made our way to the _Jade's Fire_, our personal starship. Technically, it was _my_ starship, as my old boss Talon Karrde had given it to me when I still worked for his organization. But after getting married, it became our ship. We even had it reconfigured to make a larger stateroom. Lately, Luke kept mentioning the idea of buying another ship, something bigger. I sarcastically asked him how many children he intended to have, even though he did make a good point. Eventually our child wasn't going to want to stay in the same stateroom as mommy and daddy, and we'd want privacy as well. But I was attached to the _Fire_, and not just because of my independence. Luke and I had once reconciled on that ship, and later got engaged there. I never thought I'd be so sentimental, and yet the thought of getting rid of the _Fire _left me with a strange hitch in my throat.

Kam and Tionne Solusar were waiting for us in the hangar. Luke and I had said good-bye to our other friends the night before. The Solusars and I had been part of Luke's first class of apprentices at the Academy, and they had been at the Academy ever since. Kam had recently been promoted to Jedi Master, and Tionne practically ran the entire Academy, even when Luke was present.

"Hello Kam, Tionne," Luke said as we approached. I gave them a warm smile.

"Good morning, Master Skywalker," Tionne said. "Good luck on your trip."

Luke grimaced. "I'd say something like there's no such thing as luck for a Jedi, but I might need it with Fey'lya in charge of the appropriations committee."

Kam nodded in agreement. "Why they gave him that much power, I will never understand."

"You know the Bothans," I said. "They make your skin crawl, but they're political geniuses."

Tionne smiled at me. "How're you feeling, Mara?"

I patted my small bump, which wasn't noticeable under my loose clothing unless you looked hard enough. "Great, actually. It'll be nice to get away for a while."

"Ah, I see. You'll be relaxing on Coruscant while Luke deals with Fey'lya and the Senate?"

I laughed. "Of course. I'm not stupid. Listening to Fey'lya drone on can't be good for the baby, after all."

Luke rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around me. He gave me an affectionate squeeze. "You have everything you need, Tionne?"

She nodded. "All your classes are covered."

"Great." Luke glanced at me. "Ready?"

"Always." We exchanged a round of good-byes, and a few minutes later Luke and I were on our way to Coruscant.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

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The lightwhip slashes dangerously close to my head. I dodge swiftly to the right, avoiding the strike. Diving into a roll, I rise up on steady feet and parry against my attacker. She is angry that I have not succumbed to her yet, but I refuse to back down.

I push her back, using all of my strength. She screams in frustration and jumps back further, bringing the full length of her lightwhip against me. But I am ready for her. I throw my lightsaber toward her, slicing upwards and aiming toward her head. She swings her lightwhip up to block. I reach for my blaster to attack her while she is defenseless, but it is already in her hand before I can touch it. I grab for my vibroblade instead—

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"I'm sorry, Master Skywalker, but I just do not understand why the Jedi Academy needs additional funding. According to the documentation that you provided, the Academy is operating on budget. Why should we allocate more funds to the Jedi when there are numerous other, _beneficial _endeavors across the galaxy that are not operating on budget and could benefit greatly from credits we'd be giving the Jedi Order?"

The simpering tones of Borsk Fey'lya ripped me from of my daydream. I bit my lip and clamped down on my emotions, knowing that Luke would sense them. I did not want to distract him during such an important meeting. Even still, he glanced at me over his shoulder. It only lasted a moment, but it was enough to let me know that he'd sensed my emotions and that he could ask for a short break if I needed one. _I'm fine,_I sent to him, although I wasn't sure if I was. There was something odd about this dream, although I couldn't put my finger on it. Unlike the others, the ending was foggy. But for some reason I knew that was not necessarily a bad thing.

I gave him another reassuring smile. There was a mental caress, and then his attention shifted fully back on Fey'lya and the task at hand. "Of course, Councilor, I understand your concerns." Luke was much more patient with Fey'lya than I'd ever be, which is probably why I was able to get out of participating in the meeting. I would have ditched it all together, but I decided to attend at the last minute, just for moral support. I figured that Luke deserved it. Plus, I knew I'd hear all about the meeting later on anyway, so I might as well be there to witness it firsthand. "But the Jedi Order cannot grow if we continue to remained centered on Yavin IV on a permanent basis," Luke continued, the picture of composure.

"Is your Academy no longer operating to your standards?" The Bothan's face furrowed into what could only be interpreted as fake concern.

I felt the telltale stirrings of annoyance welling up within my husband, but as always he reached down into that vast well of Jedi patience. That patience would serve him well as a father. "Yes it is, very much so. That is why we wish to expand our ranks and open additional training facilities on other worlds."

"Additional training facilities?" Fey'lya sounded surprised, although he had no reason to be so. Building new facilities was clearly spelled out in the documentation that Luke had previously provided.

Luke shifted in his seat and ran his fingers through his hair, one of his major signs of frustration. I let out a tiny giggle. It took a lot to frustrate my husband, but politics was one surefire way to do the job. "Yes, Councilor," he said in clipped tones. "It is clearly outlined in the proposal that Jedi Solusar forwarded to your office over a week ago in preparation for this meeting."

"Of course." Fey'lya made a dismissive gesture. "I merely hoped you could provide some clarification on why new trainees cannot be brought to the Yavin IV facility, instead of spending vast amounts of funds to open new facilities elsewhere."

"Well, that is how we've been operating for the past several years," Luke said, once again the measure of patience. "But in order for the Jedi Order to spread across the galaxy, as it once did, we need to literally do just that. Open up additional facilities elsewhere. Teach people that they no longer have to fear the Jedi. That we are the defenders of peace and justice throughout the galaxy."

Before that meeting, I had never before witnessed a Bothan roll his eyes. But Fey'lya did so, right in the middle of my husband's impassioned speech. I narrowed my eyes in anger, and then lowered my right hand to my stomach as I felt a wave of nausea. I took in a few deep breaths and let them out slowly, trying to calm my upset stomach.

Luke turned around fully this time and his eyes locked with mine. _You okay?_

I nodded and motioned for him to turn around. _I'm fine. The baby just doesn't like Fey'lya. Now go on, pay attention!_

Luke smiled at my joke and did as ordered, although I could tell he'd return to the topic later on. Fey'lya glanced at the two of us, ready to pounce. "Is there a problem, Master Skywalker?"

"No, no problem," Luke said quickly. It had not yet been made public that I was pregnant. All of our friends and family knew, but we saw no reason to make a formal announcement to the galaxy as we did when we got engaged. We didn't want our baby to be part of a media circus. Once I started showing, the holoshills would do enough talking on their own.

I glared back at Fey'lya, almost daring him to call me into the meeting, so I could give him a piece of my mind. But he backed down. He'd never liked me very much, even after I aided the New Republic during the Thrawn crisis.

"Well Master Skywalker, the committee has looked over your proposal. For now, it seems sound and we will present it for approval in the full Senate."

Luke nodded. We'd both predicted that Fey'lya would give him a hard time, but in the end would acquiesce to the requests. "And when do you anticipate that vote occurring?"

Fey'lya shrugged. "I will have my secretary contact you when additional information arises. Until then." He stood in abrupt dismissal. Luke again kept his annoyance in check as he shook the Bothan's hand while remaining firmly in place. Fey'lya and the rest of the committee swept out of the room, leaving Luke and me alone.

Luke lowered his head into his hands as soon as the door closed. I got up from my seat and took the chair next to him. "Stop moping," I told him, and rubbed his back soothingly. "We got what we wanted, right?"

Luke nodded and rubbed his temples. "I know. I know. It's just so...frustrating!"

I snorted. It was almost cute to see Luke so angry. "Yeah, you're telling me."

He glanced up at me with a concerned expression. "Oh, I'm such an idiot. Are you okay?"

I waved my hand dismissively. "I told you I'm fine, just had a little nausea. Stop worrying."

"Okay," Luke said hesitantly. Then he grinned. "I should punish you for dozing off during the meeting."

I grabbed his elbow and pulled him out of his chair. "Please. You're lucky I even came to this thing."

"I know." Luke wrapped his arms around me and kissed my cheek. "I _am _lucky."

"And don't you forget it." I smacked him on his rear. "Now come on, Master Skywalker. We need to get ready to do battle with the Solos."

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"Uncle Luke! Aunt Mara!"

We barely got two steps inside the Solo's apartment before Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin threw themselves at us. The three terrors.

Luke smiled at them and lifted little Anakin into his arms. "Hey, kids! How are you?"

It was the wrong question to ask. They all piped up, eager for our undivided attention. "Daddy let me sit on his lap when he flew the _Falcon_!" Anakin said proudly.

Jaina rolled her eyes to show that she was completely unimpressed. "Big deal. Daddy let me help him fix the _Falcon._"

Jacen pulled on the end of my tunic so I'd look at him. When I did, he grinned. "I found a lizard."

I felt my eyes widen but tried hard to clamp down on my surprise. "That's…nice." I glanced at Luke, but he was still focused on Jaina and Anakin.

Jacen beamed and stood on his toes. I leaned down so I could hear him better. "You wanna see it?" he whispered conspiratorially.

"Um…no thanks. Jacen, does your mother know you have a lizard in the house?"

Jacen shrugged. "It's in a cage! It can't hurt anybody."

"Right." I stood motionless for a moment, not really knowing what else to say.

Thankfully, Han Solo came to my rescue. He sauntered in the room with a drink already in hand. "Kids! Give your aunt and uncle some space! They just got here."

The kids sighed in disappointment. "Okay." They backed up approximately two meters.

Han grinned and moved in toward us, offering Luke a handshake and me a tentative hug. "How're you doing, Jade? Any weird cravings lately?"

"Not at all, Solo." I spared a glance at the children, who had dragged Luke into the common area and now were arguing over who got first dibs on one of their many hologames.

Han followed my gaze and grinned. "What do you say? You ready for that?"

Inwardly, I cringed. No, I definitely was not ready for three rambunctious children running around my house. But I couldn't let Han know that, so I just shrugged nonchalantly. "Thankfully we're only having one, and that's the way it's going to be for quite some time."

Han snorted. "Sure, whatever you say."

My retort was cut off as Leia entered the foyer. "Han! Stop bothering Mara!"

"Hey, I'm not doing anything!"

"Right, like I believe that." Leia approached me and gave me a small squeeze. We'd had a precarious relationship, mainly because I broke her brother's heart a few years back when I left the Jedi Academy. But we managed to put aside our differences after Luke and I reconciled and I returned to Yavin IV.

"Hello, Leia," I said. "Do you any some help in the kitchen?" For once I was hoping she'd say yes, so that I could get away from the three rowdy children (and my husband) who were now involved in a heated round of a hologame called "Jedi vs. Sith."

But Leia shook her head. "Absolutely not. You need to relax." She gave her husband a sharp look. "You—set the table, now!"

Han knew better than to argue. He just rolled his eyes at Leia's back and shuffled into the dining room.

Even though she said otherwise, I followed Leia into the kitchen. "Seriously, can I help?"

She gave me a knowing look and gestured toward the living area. "Too loud for you in there?"

I smiled, embarrassed that she found me out so easily, and took a seat on one of the kitchen stools. "Do you ever get used to it?" I asked, wanting an honest answer.

While people often made fun of Leia's spiceloaf, she was actually a pretty good cook when it came to other types of food, especially Alderaanian, which was on the menu for the evening. As she hurried around the kitchen, getting everything prepared for dinner, I found myself wondering if I'd ever be as domestic as Leia. She was a princess, a hero of the Rebellion, and a leader of the New Republic, yet she seemed completely at ease in her kitchen. I was a good enough cook, but never felt very comfortable in domestic situations. It was just one more reason to worry about my unsure maternal instincts.

Leia smirked at me. "Do you want the answer that will make you feel better, or the truth?"

"You don't have to coddle me, Leia. Give me the truth."

Leia shrugged nonchalantly and turned back to the food. "I keep waiting for them to quiet down. Everyone tells me that it should happen any time now, but I have a feeling I'll be waiting until they leave home."

"I was afraid you'd say that."

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The rest of the evening could only be described as organized chaos. The kids were behaved enough while eating, but once the food was gone they started kicking and poking at each other. And after dessert they were in desperate need of a bath, so Han and Leia rounded them up in the 'fresher. Luke and I sat on the couch, absentmindedly watching some news show, but I wasn't really paying attention. Even though I'd had three long years to get used to the Solo kids, being around them always left me somewhat shell shocked. Intellectually, I knew that kids were supposed to be loud and obnoxious. But if I'd acted like that when I was a kid, I would have been sent to the dungeons. Literally.

Finally Han and Leia came back into the living area. Leia poured us all a drink—nonalcoholic for me, of course—and the conversation turned to Luke's meeting with Fey'lya.

"I know Fey'lya can be frustrating, but you got what you wanted, right?" Leia said.

"Sure." Luke took a measured sip of his Whyren's. "But I'm not looking forward to Fey'lya pushing against the Jedi Order at every opportunity."

"Just make sure your lightsaber is clearly visible at the next meeting, kid." Han raised his glass in a toast. "You'll be sure to get whatever you want."

Luke shook his head in disbelief. "I'm not doing that, Han."

"Well, then have your wife do it. Even Fey'lya will know better than to mess with an angry pregnant woman. Especially Mara Jade."

"You mess with me all the time, Han," I pointed out.

He grinned. "That's just because I'm a glutton for punishment."

"Oh really?" Leia raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow. "Is that why you're married to me?"

Han shivered and took a large sip of his drink. "I plead the fifth." We all laughed.

"Seriously, though." Luke fiddled with the small cocktail straw in his glass. Leia always went all out for company, even just family. "If we're going to face this kind of combativeness every time the Jedi Order tries to expand its numbers…" He sighed heavily. "I'm not sure it's going to work."

Leia glanced at him sharply. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm beginning to wonder if the Jedi Order should even be a part of the New Republic," Luke said cautiously. "The Jedi served the Republic once before, and look what happened then."

"Don't be ridiculous." Leia grabbed a coaster to put under Han's glass. "That sort of thing will never happen again."

"Are you so sure?"

"Why are you saying this, Luke? You like Mon Mothma."

"I do, very much! But this has nothing to do with her, or anyone else in the government. It's the bureaucracy. It worries me."

"Well, that's the New Republic for you. I don't know what else to tell you."

"Perhaps the Jedi Order should be an autonomous organization. Or perhaps it should be a part of many governments. I don't know." Luke shrugged his shoulders and took another sip of his drink.

Leia stared at him for a moment. "Many governments? You mean the Empire?"

"The Imperial Remnant, yes," Luke clarified.

"Is _that _such a good idea?"

"She's got a point," Han said. "Would the Empire want a bunch of Jedi Knights running around their part of the galaxy?"

Luke nodded. "With Pellaeon in charge of the Remnant, yes they would. And we need to have a better relationship with them, anyway. We've had peace for over two years and we still don't even have an ambassador permanently stationed on Bastion. Nor does the Remnant have an ambassador on Coruscant."

"I know, but what do you want me to do?" Leia asked. "The Advisory Council and the Senate are more concerned with the New Republic's problems than improving diplomatic relations."

"Maybe the Remnant could help with those problems," Luke said. "Not to mention the Empire of the Hand."

Leia paused and took a big sip of her drink. When she was finished, she placed her glass on a coaster and leaned back in her seat. "I don't know what you want from me, Luke. I can't force them to listen to me."

"Why not?" Han put his arm around her. "You do it to me all the time."

We all laughed, and the mood lightened. I'd remained silent during the exchange, having shared my opinion on the matter with Luke many times. I understood why he was considering making the Jedi Order an autonomous organization. After growing up in the Empire, I appreciated a smooth-running government more than anybody. But I also knew that such a thing came at a huge cost. Sure, the Empire provided stability, but only if one was of a certain species and class. Everyone else lived in abject poverty, and those who dared to speak their minds were thrown in prison, or killed. Several years ago, I was asked to stay on Nirauan and join the mysterious Empire of the Hand. I refused then, because I knew that my place was with the Jedi and the New Republic. Not to mention Luke.

Leia turned to me and changed the subject. "So, Mara. Have you gotten an ultrasound yet?"

I smiled at her and prepared myself for yet another enthralling round of baby talk. How in the galaxy had I gotten to a place in my life where I'd be sitting in Leia Organa's living room, and pregnant with Luke Skywalker's child? My life would never cease to amaze me.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Here, there be plot.**_

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CHAPTER 3

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Later that night, I was awakened from a blissfully dreamless sleep by a loud beeping noise. I rolled over in bed, smacking Luke's stomach with my hand, while trying to figure out what was going on. Years of tightly honed instincts had me fully awake in seconds, and my eyes darted around the room, looking for the offending noise.

I then realized that it was our comm station. I rose from the bed, put on my robe, and went into the living area to see who in stars' name was calling us at such a late hour. My ire lowered a bit when I saw Talon Karrde's comm code, but my worry increased tenfold. For Karrde to be calling in the middle of the night meant that a crisis was brewing.

I took a seat on the chair in front of the station and flipped on the comm for audio and visual. I looked frazzled, like I'd just woken up, and knew it would make him feel guilty. "Hello, Karrde."

Sure enough, he was cringing before I even spoke. "Hello, Mara. I'm really sorry to wake you in the middle of the night."

I waved him on with my hand. "Sure, sure, whatever. What's wrong?"

Karrde frowned, but there was a teasing glint in his eyes. "I wasn't disturbing anything, was I?"

I rolled my eyes. Even after being married for several years, Karrde still loved to tease me about my relationship with Skywalker. Before our wedding, he'd even threatened to beat Luke up if my new husband ever hurt me. "Only a pregnant woman's beauty sleep," I told him. "Now spill it."

Karrde sighed and ran his fingers through his long, graying hair. He too looked like he'd just woken up, and I wondered where the _Wild Karrde _was stationed in the galaxy. "Okay. Do you remember Soontir Fel?"

I blinked, taken aback by his question. "Of course I remember him." How could I not? Several years back, I had been invited to a planet called Nirauan by Sate Pestage, former Grand Vizier to the Empire. Unable to contain my curiosity, I went and having been plagued by a vision, Luke tagged along. Once on the planet, Soontir Fel greeted us. Fel had been the best TIE pilot in the Empire, but after the Emperor's death he defected to the New Republic. After a kidnapping attempt by Ysanne Isard, he completely disappeared. As Luke and I found out, Fel had been stationed on Nirauan all that time, and was part of Grand Admiral Thrawn's secret organization known as the Empire of the Hand. It was on Nirauan where I finally confronted my past as the Emperor's Hand and Luke and I were bonded in the Force.

Along with all that, Fel was brother-in-law to Luke's good friend, Wedge Antilles. Luke was more than a little miffed that Fel had never attempted to contact Wedge in the three years past, even though Luke had provided encrypted contact information.

"I'm glad to hear that," Karrde said. "Because he wants to speak to you."

"He wants to speak with _me_?" I couldn't keep the surprise out of my voice. After the rest of the Empire of the Hand learned that Sate Pestage had been using the Nirauan facility to secretly create clones of the Emperor, Fel and Admiral Voss Parck took control of the facility and shipped Pestage off to Bastion for trial. Both Fel and Parck insisted on remaining neutral and isolationist, wanting nothing to do with either the Imperial Remnant or New Republic. Why did Fel all of a sudden want to speak to me? Was the Empire of the Hand once again trying to win my allegiance? "Why?"

"Well, technically the message was addressed to Luke."

"Ah. I see." But that still didn't make sense. What would Soontir Fel have to say to Luke? I shrugged my shoulders and moved on to another question. "So then why do you have the message?"

Karrde frowned. "Ah, yes, well, the message came across one of our relay stations. I just so happened to notice the name Skywalker, and, well, you know how protective I am of my favorite former employee."

"Skip the flattery, Karrde."

He sighed. "Now that you're a Jedi, nothing gets past you. It's no fun."

"You couldn't get anything past me even before I was a Jedi."

"Well, you did listen to me about not killing Luke."

I pointed to my stomach. "And look where that's gotten me."

Karrde laughed. "Okay, here's the truth. I've been in contact with the Empire of the Hand. Just a few times," he added, when my expression turned incredulous. "I've been trying to broker an intelligence deal with them. Anyway, Fel asked me to put him in contact with Luke, as a sign of good will. I wanted to warn you before he contacts you," Karrde glanced at his chrono, "which should be sometime tonight."

I groaned. "Thanks for the warning. You don't have any idea what this is about?"

Karrde shook his head.

I snorted. "Excuse me if I have a hard time believing that."

Karrde held up his hands in an innocent gesture. "I swear, I don't!" He leaned in toward the comm pick-up and lowered his voice. "But you'll tell me all about it, right?"

I leaned in and raised my eyebrows. "For a price."

"A price? Oh, Mara, I taught you well."

"Yes, you did."

"What's the price?"

"You and Shada can baby-sit."

Karrde wrinkled his nose. "Baby-sit?"

I nodded and reached for the cut-off switch. "Yes, baby-sit. As in, watch the child while Luke and I have a night on the town. Now good night, Karrde." He was still protesting as I cut the connection.

"Karrde's baby-sitting?"

I turned around and found Luke standing in the bedroom door, his sleep pants slung low on his hips and hair sticking up in various directions. I nodded and pointed back in the bedroom. "You need to make yourself presentable. Apparently, Soontir Fel is going to be comming us soon."

"Yes, I heard," Luke said as he went back into the bedroom. "You should have let me get the comm."

I sighed and made my way to the 'fresher. "I'm pregnant, Luke, not an invalid." That statement had become my rallying cry over the past four months. I hated being coddled, no matter what the situation, and didn't see any reason why I needed to change my lifestyle just because I was pregnant. Leia had been involved in a galactic crisis while pregnant with twins, for Force sakes.

Luke was waiting for me when I came out of the refresher. He had changed into his Jedi robes. "I know, but I can't help it." He leaned in to give me a kiss.

I pulled away and tightened my robe. "Well, luckily for you, you can coddle the baby all you want when it arrives." I poked him in the stomach.

Luke made a face. "Shouldn't we say 'he' or 'she'? Saying 'it' all the time makes me think you're giving birth to a droid."

I laughed. "I know, but we don't know the sex yet."

"Don't you have any sense of that yet?"

"Kind of." In fact, I had become quite certain over the past several weeks that the baby was a boy, but we'd yet to have a check-up confirming that. I didn't want to start referring to the baby as 'he,' only to find out that I'd been wrong all the time. "What about you?"

Luke looked sheepish. "You told me not to peek..."

"And I know that you have, so there's no point in pretending."

"Right."

I cocked a brow at him. "And?"

"And..." Luke stepped forward and placed his hands on my belly. He closed his eyes, and I felt his Force sense envelop mine, and the burgeoning light inside me that was our baby. It was still such an odd, but incredibly natural, feeling. He opened his eyes and smiled at me. "I think that you're right."

I smiled back. "We'll see."

His response was cut off by more beeping from the comm station. I patted him on the shoulder. "Let's get this over with, Master Skywalker." He rolled his eyes, but then nodded and took a seat at the comm station. It was always amusing to see Luke switch from Farmboy to Jedi Master in the blink of an eye. I took a seat on the couch, out of pick-up range but still able to hear the conversation.

The comm station flickered to life and the holographic form of Soontir Fel appeared in front of Luke. Fel was approximately Han's age and had brown hair and brown eyes. He was a larger man, and had a military air about him. He nodded with precision. "Master Skywalker. Thank you for taking my call. I hope it was not a distraction."

Luke shook his head. "Not at all. It's nice to hear from you again, General Fel." Although his words were genuine, they sounded hard, and I knew that Luke was again wondering why Fel had continued to avoid his family. But, the consummate Jedi, he remained focused on the task at hand. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Oh, there's no problem, Master Skywalker. I would like to extend to you an invitation."

Luke's brow furrowed. "An invitation?" I felt my brow furrow as well. From my conversation with Karrde, I'd gotten the impression that Fel had something of utmost importance to talk to Luke about. My suspicions began to rise.

"Yes. You see, the Empire of the Hand has been searching the Unknown Regions for quite some time, looking for various threats to the galaxy. On such an expedition, one team came upon something very interesting."

"And that was?" Luke asked, clearly not in the mood for drawing this out any longer than necessary.

Fel paused. "They found the remains of the Outbound Flight project."

Luke didn't bother trying to hide his surprise. His jaw dropped, and it took him a few moments to find his voice. "The Outbound Flight project?" he finally managed to get out. "But I thought Thrawn destroyed that mission."

"Indeed," Fel said. "But it appears that he did not destroy it completely. Our men came upon a distress signal emitting from the vessel and determined its probable location."

"What did they find?"

Fel shook his head. "We don't know. The team did not investigate further."

"Oh." Luke sounded confused. "Why not?"

"We had crossed into the boundaries of Chiss space. It would have been a breach of etiquette to land."

Fel's explanation made sense, given what little was known about the Chiss Ascendancy. But it didn't explain what the Empire of the Hand was doing in Chiss space to begin with. Thankfully, Luke also picked up on that contradiction. "But it was not a breach of etiquette to be exploring Chiss space in the first place?"

Fel cringed, just slightly. "We have discussed this at length with the Ruling Families. But for now, we have a larger focus. The Chiss want to launch an expedition to the Outbound Flight wreckage, in order to atone for Thrawn's involvement in the mission's destruction. They've asked that the team from the Empire of the Hand accompany them."

Luke nodded. "And where do we come in?"

Fel took a deep breath. "The Chiss would like a representative from the Jedi Order to come along. I recommended you."

"Ah," Luke said. It all made perfect sense. Luke was the most famous Jedi in the galaxy, and Outbound Flight had been a Jedi mission. But was now the time to leave the galaxy to go exploring? With all the problems in the New Republic, not to mention Luke's desire to expand the Jedi Order and Fey'lya's protests to that, it could be foolish to leave.

But looking at Luke's eyes, I knew there was no way that he could possibly say no to this opportunity. Since opening the Jedi Academy, Luke had been scouring the galaxy trying to find information about the Jedi in the Old Republic. He'd found several texts and formal documents, but it was never enough for him. And he was always trying to find information about my parents. From visions and long-repressed memories, I knew that my mother had been a Jedi, but that was all I knew about my past.

"You don't have to give your answer now," Fel said. "We will be rendezvousing in the Crustai system in several days time. I will forward the pertinent information. If you decide to come along, we will be waiting for you there. But we ask you to please keep this mission a secret. We don't want the rest of the galaxy to know we've found the remains of Outbound Flight just yet."

"I see," Luke murmured, looking deep in thought. I could tell that he wanted to say yes right away, but he glanced in my direction. I remained silent, and he nodded. "I'll have to discuss the matter with my wife, at least."

"Of course, Master Skywalker," Fel said. "I hope to see you on Crustai. Fel out."

Silence filled the room as Luke switched off the comm station. He remained seated, deep in thought, before turning to me. "You think it's a bad idea, don't you?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Not exactly a _bad_ idea. I understand why you want to go, of course."

"Who said that I want to go?"

"Please. I saw the look on your face as soon as Fel said the words "Outbound Flight.' You were practically drooling."

Luke made a face. "Really? I thought I'd covered that up."

"You're good at covering up many things, but you always get so excited about new Jedi stuff. It's quite adorable."

"_Adorable?_Me?"

I nodded. "Yes. It's one of those irresistible quirks of yours."

He crossed to the couch and sat next to me. He placed a hand on my forehead and peered at me intently. "Who are you and what have you done to my wife?"

I laughed and swatted away his hand. "Nerf. I blame pregnancy hormones."

"I see. I'm an adorable nerf, though."

"Whatever. Let's get back to the pertinent subject matter. Are we going to meet Fel on Crustai or what?"

"Well, I can tell that you don't think it's a great id-wait a minute." Luke paused, his expression turning suspicious. "Did you say _we_?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

He deliberately looked down at my stomach. "I would say so."

I sighed in frustration and rose from the couch. "Don't start this again."

"Start what?"

I entered the kitchen and began to make myself a cup of tea. I glared at Luke, who'd followed me into the kitchen, over my shoulder. "You know what."

"I'm sorry, Mara, but you're pregnant. I just can't ignore that and say 'sure, come across the galaxy with me.' What if something happens? I doubt there will be medics around that can take care of pregnancy complications."

"I'm _four months _pregnant, Luke," I pointed out. "People still barely notice, and my morning sickness has been over with for a while. You heard what Cilghal said at my last appointment, that I was having a perfect pregnancy."

"And that's exactly why I don't want you to push yourself and have something go wrong. Here, let me do that." He leaned forward to help me with the tea.

I whirled on him and pinned him with a deadly gaze. "I know my own body, and can take care of myself, all right?"

"Okay, okay!" He held up his hands in submission. "I'm just trying to help. Geez, when Mirax was pregnant she made Corran wait on her hand and foot. You think you'd be appreciative."

I took a deep breath as I put the tea kettle on the warmer. I knew that I wasn't being fair, that all Luke wanted to do was help. He was always so protective of everyone he loved, and I should have expected this kind of treatment from the moment I told him I was pregnant. But it was still hard for me to accept that, very soon, I would have to cut back on the lifestyle I'd grown so used to.

"Luke," I said just as he got to the doorway. He turned around and favored me with a hurt expression. I immediately felt guilty. "I'm sorry."

He nodded. "I just want to help," he said again. "It's not that I think you're incapable. I'm just...I worry."

"I know, but right now, there's nothing to worry about." We'd had the same discussion so many times over the past four months. "Right now I still feel really good, and I'd like things to stay normal for as long as possible. Okay?"

"Okay." And just like that, the crisis was over. We'd certainly come a long way from screaming matches in abandoned Sith temples...although we still had a few crazy fights every now and then. He tilted his head at me. "So about Outbound Flight..."

I shook my head as the water began to boil. "Well, first of all, _if_you go, there's no way that you're going without me. Case closed."

"Fine," Luke relented. "But you don't think we should go at all, do you?"

I shrugged and offered him a cup of tea. He refused. "It's not that I don't think we should go. I just worry about the timing. With all the infighting in the New Republic, and your request to the Senate, it might seem odd if we disappear for a while."

"We'll just say that we have Jedi business. We don't need to be specific."

I sat down at the table and looked at him, leaning against the counter. "And that won't raise Fey'lya's suspicions? And what if something happens that requires Jedi intervention while we're gone?"

"That's why I have Kam and Tionne running the Academy, and other Knights stationed at Coruscant headquarters-to take care of things while I'm gone. You're the one who told me I can't do everything by myself, right?"

I took a sip of tea to cover up my glowering glare. I always hated when he was able to turn my arguments around on me. "I know. But still...you know how Fey'lya is. He'll take advantage of anything right now."

"Okay, maybe he will. Is that reason enough to reject this opportunity? It's _Outbound Flight_, Mara." His words were breathless. He took the seat across from me, and leaned in close. "You know how long I've been waiting for an opportunity like this. It was a Jedi mission. Imagine the information we could find!"

"If the computers are even intact," I pointed out. "The dreadnaughts must have been damaged pretty badly in the attack."

"That's true, but before tonight we'd believed that the ships must have been completely destroyed. We were wrong about that. Maybe we're wrong in a lot of our assumptions."

"Point." I took another sip of tea, and contemplated what such a trip could mean to the Jedi Order. Luke was more than satisfied with its direction, but always strove to learn more. It wasn't that he wanted to emulate the past, he said. He felt that the only way to avoid repeating history was to learn as much about it as possible. In that, I agreed with him.

And, of course, he always wanted to learn more about his father. Data about Anakin Skywalker had been erased from all the Jedi archives we'd come upon. The only information we knew about his early life were things Luke and Leia had learned on Tatooine.

Picking up on my train of thought, Luke continued, "And maybe we'll find something about your mother."

I snorted. "I doubt it. I'm sure Palpatine had all that information erased as well."

"Right," Luke agreed. But I could still see the hope in his eyes. I'd long ago given up hope of finding information about my past. Just having the knowledge that my parents were proud of me, wherever they were, was enough for me. "But it was a Jedi mission. Palpatine wouldn't have been involved, would he?"

Luke, of course, would never give up hope.

I sighed and stared deep into his blue eyes. "Okay, Skywalker. When do we leave?"


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Please note, starting with this chapter we will be getting into spoiler territory for Choices of One. It will not ruin the novel, but you will find out the fate of a particular character. _

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CHAPTER 4

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The trip into Unknown Space was uneventful, and several days later Luke and I arrived in the Crustai system. The second planet was a Chiss colony while an asteroid served as a base for the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet. I pulled the _Jade's Fire_ out of hyperspace and maneuvered toward the rendezvous location that Fel had provided.

Not long after we reverted to realspace, the comm began to buzz. I looked at Luke out of the corner of my eye and indicated for him to answer.

He did, but not before taking a deep breath. "Here goes nothing." He grimaced and flipped on the comm. "This is Luke and Mara Skywalker on the _Jade's Fire_, at the request of Soontir Fel."

"_Jade _Skywalker," I said out of the corner of my mouth. Luke rolled his eyes in my direction. It wasn't that I minded being called solely by his name. I just liked to make things difficult for him.

A flat-sounding voice reverberated out of the speaker. "Greetings, Master Skywalker. We are transmitting docking information. Please proceed as ordered. Standby."

Luke and I glanced at each other. "Cheery bunch," I commented.

"Is it possible for Chiss to be cheery?"

"I don't know. I've met approximately one of them in my entire life. And judging from him, no, they're not the most animated of peoples."

Luke smiled lightly. "Right."

Just then, a stream of data came into the navigation console. I followed the instructions as ordered and moved the _Fire_to dock.

The _Chaf Envoy_ was one of the oddest vessels I'd ever laid eyes on. It was approximately two hundred meters long, full of flat planes and angular edges. It almost looked like some sort of bird of prey. I wondered if other Chiss ships had similar designs. Judging by how secretive the Chiss were, I wasn't likely to find out the answer to that question any time soon. I'd noticed a few Chiss officers while milling about the Empire of the Hand's fortress on Nirauan, but as I said to Luke the only one I'd ever met before was Thrawn. I felt somewhat privileged to even be invited onboard a Chiss vessel on a one-time basis. If _I_was feeling that way, I could only imagine what Luke must be feeling.

I maneuvered the _Fire_ into one of the _Chaf Envoy_'s docking bays. There were several other ships nearby, including what looked to be an Imperial shuttle and another ship of alien origin. Who else had been invited on this mission? I'd softened a lot since joining the Jedi Order, but my suspicious nature had been hard-wired into me since I was a young girl. Trust was not something I gave easily, especially in unusual situations like this. Especially while I was pregnant.

Luke wasn't the only one who worried about our baby. While he tried to make everything stress-free and perfect, my worry just manifested itself in other ways. But that mother bantha instinct was there and I would kill anybody who dared threaten to harm my child.

So I was very guarded when, several minutes later, Luke and I powered down the _Jade's Fire _and made our way down the ramp. My arms were crossed over my chest in a defensive position. Luke nudged me lightly and I lowered my arms just before we got to our welcoming committee.

Two Chiss and one human greeted us. "Welcome, Master Skywalker," the human—Soontir Fel—said. I assumed that he was acting as spokesperson because we had previously met. "I'm very glad you have decided to join us on this mission to Outbound Flight." He was very formal and stilted, just as he'd been on Nirauan. I wondered at this, as he had a Corellian background and all the other Corellians I knew had the tendency to be quite hotheaded. Was he just naturally a serious person, or was it a result of spending so much time around the Chiss?

I let Luke do the talking. "Thank you, General Fel. I'm sure you remember my wife, Mara?"

"Of course." He stepped forward to shake my hand…and then his eyes raked over my abdomen. I was ready to give him a piece of my mind for staring and remind him that he was married to close family friend's sister, when I followed his gaze downward and realized what he was looking at—the bump that was protruding from beneath my flight suit. The flight suit that had gotten snug over the past week, and that I hadn't yet gotten around to replacing. I cursed myself for not thinking to change into Jedi robes before debarking the ship. I only wore them regularly when teaching at the Academy, and it had totally slipped my mind to change. Perfect; all I needed was another male to worry about my well-being on this mission.

Our eyes snapped up at the same time. He grimaced apologetically, and I shrugged my shoulders as if it didn't matter. "I guess the nexu's out of the bag," I said. "We haven't announced it publically yet," I added, not that I needed to explain anything. And not like Fel would be talking to the holopress from out on Nirauan, but you never know.

He stared at my stomach again, looking a bit worried. I suppressed a grimace, as I expected him to say that I shouldn't go along on the mission. "Right," he said after a few moments. Then he looked up at me and smiled. "I suppose congratulations are in order."

Luke clasped my hand and smiled back. "Thank you," he answered for the both of us. "We're very excited."

"I can imagine." Fel's eyes took on a wistful look, and for a moment I could see the father that lay hidden behind the stiff warrior. But it was over as soon as it began. "Allow me to introduce to you to Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano and General Prard'ras'kleoni. You may refer to them by their core names, Formbi and Drask." He gestured to the Chiss on his right. "Aristocra Formbi is a leader of the Fifth Ruling Family, to which this vessel belongs. General Drask serves the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet and will be in charge of all military operations on this mission." He gestured to us. "This is Master Luke Skywalker and Jedi Mara Jade Skywalker, representing the Jedi Order."

Luke nodded at the both of them. "Thank you for allowing us to accompany you on this mission. We are honored by the privilege."

"Likewise," Aristocra Formbi responded. "I am very pleased that the leader of the Jedi Order can accompany us to atone for the misdeeds of Mitth'raw'nuruodo."

He glanced to General Drask, who merely narrowed his eyes and nodded. He did not look nearly as excited to have two Jedi on this mission. On second thought, he didn't seem pleased to have any humans onboard a Chiss vessel. That was very interesting indeed, especially since he was to be in charge of military operations. Would this cause problems? I hoped not, and made certain to find out more about Chiss politics on the mission to Outbound Flight. Not to mention, learn more about this General Drask.

I nodded my head toward the other vessels in the hangar. "Will anybody else be accompanying us on this mission?"

Fel gave a knowing smile, as if he'd expected me to figure that out. "Yes, in fact. If you'll follow me?" We retrieved our bags from the ship, Luke insisting on carrying the heaviest two, and after a few moments followed him out of the hangar.

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We arrived in a plain-looking room and placed our bags on the ground next to us. I assumed that this was some sort of reception area, but was surprised at the lack of decoration. It turned out that the Chiss were more practical than we even suspected. The room slowly began to change. Walls receded, angles were created, and banners and colors appeared throughout the room. In mere moments, it was as if I was in a completely different space.

Luke and I must have shared identical impressed expressions, because Aristocra Formbi gave us a proud nod. "Our reception area changes depending on the status of visitor. I can explain more later during a tour of the _Chaf Envoy_, if you'd like."

"Yes, we would, thank you," I replied. I was very eager to learn more about our hosts, not to mention the other guests.

Speaking of which, I became aware that Fel had broken off from our group and was now standing in front of five other men. There were out of uniform, but it was clear from just the way they presented themselves that they were stormtroopers. One of them looked oddly familiar, but I could not place him. I didn't know what to think about being in the presence of stormtroopers again.

Next to Fel was a man who looked to be in his mid-sixties. He had graying hair and wore thick ambassadorial robes. "May I present Ambassador Dean Jinzler," Aristocra Formbi said. Luke and I stepped forward to shake hands. "This is—"

Formbi's introduction was cut off by Jinzler's bitter voice. "I know who they are. It's a pleasure to meet you, Master Skywalker." He looked to me. "Jedi Jade Skywalker." He shook our hands politely, but could not disguise the disgusted glances he gave to our lightsabers.

That was certainly very interesting. Luke's expression remained blank, but he was thinking the same thing I was. "Please, call us Luke and Mara."

"Ambassador Jinzler, did you say?" I asked.

Jinzler nodded.

"Interesting," I murmured. The New Republic had its fair share of political officials, but I had never heard of an ambassador named Jinzler before. "I apologize, I can't recall what planet you represent."

Jinzler's eyes turned hard. "No, I wouldn't suspect a Jedi would be aware of such mundane topics. I work in the main senate office on Coruscant. I was sent to represent the New Republic's _official_ interests in the Outbound Flight project."

"Right," I said dryly. Not only did Jinzler avoid my question, but he expressed more dislike of the Jedi. Very interesting indeed.

I heard Luke's voice in my mind. _Friend of Fey'lya's?_

I mentally shrugged. _No clue. I've never heard of a Jinzler in the senate office before._

_Me neither._ And Luke had been subjected to Leia's political talks far longer than I. _Perhaps he's new._

_Maybe._ But I didn't believe that for a second, and even though Luke had the tendency to trust everyone, I knew he didn't believe it either.

As if one suspicious person on this mission wasn't enough, Formbi turned his attention to the woman—I assumed it was a woman—standing to the right of Jinzler. She was tall and wore dark robes and a cowl that covered her hair and the top of her face. All I could see were her gray eyes, red lips, and oddly-patterned cheeks. Her skin was pale and she didn't look entirely human.

"Luke and Mara, may I introduce Rida Hano, representing the Nephro."

Hano reached out to shake our hands. Her lips curved into an unnatural-looking smile, but I felt an odd sense of relief radiating from her in waves. "It is an honor to meet you both," she said softly.

Luke smiled at her. "Thank you. I'm sorry to say I'm unfamiliar with your species."

"Do not apologize. There are few of us now, and we originate from a small planet in the Unknown Regions. I would not have expected you to know of us."

"What are your interests in Outbound Flight?" I asked. I tried to keep my tone as neutral as possible, even though my suspicions about this woman had already begun to rise.

She looked to her feet, her expression forlorn. "Approximately forty years ago, we were attacked by a species called the Vagaari. The majority of my people were killed or captured. There was only a shipload of us left. It was then that we came upon the Outbound Flight mission. The Jedi onboard helped defend us against the Vagaari, and we managed to escape. Since then, we have traveled around the Unknown Regions, searching for a new home. When we learned what became of the Jedi, we were devastated. We always hoped of thanking them for aiding our survival. I am very grateful to be able to pay respects to Outbound Flight and thank our Jedi saviors."

"As are we," Luke murmured. I glanced at him, looking somber and reflective. But I could tell that his suspicions were high, too. Nevertheless, it was quite possible that Hano's story was true. There was no way to know about every species and civilization that existed in the vast Unknown Regions.

But my danger sense was spiking like crazy, and I had a strange and unnatural dislike for this woman. I'd learned long ago to listen to the Force, and I would continue to do so, especially now. I made another mental note to ask Aristocra Formbi about the other guests as soon as possible.

Aristocra Formbi gestured to Fel and his men. "And you've already met General Fel."

Fel nodded. "Yes. And with me are five of the finest soldiers from the Empire of the Hand, led by Commander Daric—"

"LaRone!" I gasped, finally placing the familiar figure to events of fourteen years ago.

The man on Fel's immediate right nodded. "I was wondering if you would recognize me."

My mouth dropped open, and for a moment all I could do was stand firmly in place. Not long after the Battle of Yavin, when I was still the Emperor's Hand, I became involved with a group of rogue stormtroopers who called themselves the Hand of Judgment. Instead of turning them in for desertion, I worked with them and used their skills to my advantage. During our second mission together, I traveled to the Candoras sector with orders to execute the Imperial governor. Instead I became involved in a complicated plot that involved an alien warlord named Nuso Esva, the Rebel Alliance, and then-Supreme Commander Thrawn. It was on Poln Major where I ending up working with a Rebel named Skywalker, who somehow also knew LaRone and the other members of the Hand of Judgment.

After that mission, I waited for LaRone and the others on their ship, but they never returned. I assumed that they'd been captured or killed, and chalked up the experience as yet another lesson not to get close to people. I left Poln Major the same Emperor's Hand as before, and returned to my duties in the Empire.

Luke stepped forward to greet LaRone, but I pushed him aside and rushed past him. For fourteen years, I'd idly wondered what had happened to those loyal soldiers. Sitting on their ship, waiting for them to return, was the first time I'd ever experienced a true sense of loss. All those old feelings that I'd long sought to repress came rushing to the surface and I enveloped LaRone in an embrace.

In hindsight, I could only blame the pregnancy hormones for that move.

LaRone stiffened slightly, obviously not expecting such a reaction from the former Emperor's Hand he'd once served. I pulled away quickly, embarrassed by my emotional reaction. "So _that's _what happened to you," I said, trying to cover up my embarrassment.

He smiled at me, the awkwardness over in seconds. "Yes. Thrawn gave us an offer that we couldn't refuse. We've been in the Empire of the Hand ever since."

"And the others?"

"They serve with other units. They are well."

Luke drew beside me to shake LaRone's hand. "It's very nice to see you again, LaRone."

"Likewise." LaRone glanced between the two of us. "I must say that I was surprised to learn of your courtship, given past circumstances."

I laughed. "Believe me, so was I." Luke merely grinned at me.

Fel was watching us the entire time, his eyebrows nearly raised to the top of his head. "You three know each other?" He gave LaRone a questioning look.

"I'll explain later, sir," LaRone said, all business.

Fel shrugged. "I really shouldn't be surprised," he mumbled.

Aristocra Formbi held out his arms. "Now that we have all exchanged greetings, my aide Feesa will show you to your staterooms."

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Luke I were led to a small but comfortable stateroom and left to our own devices. We spent the next half an hour or so unpacking our belongings and generally getting settled. My first order of business was to change into looser clothing. I didn't want any more curious glances during this trip.

While I was finishing in the refresher, an announcement came over the shipwide comm system, saying that we had about fifteen more minutes before jumping to hyperspace. I hurriedly finished dressing, determined not to lose this opportunity.

Luke was lying in bed, reading a datapad, when I emerged from the refresher. "I'm going back to the _Fire_," I told him. "Do you need anything?"

Luke looked up at me. "What do you need? I'll get it for you."

I tried hard to suppress my annoyance. He was only being helpful. "No, thanks. I'm going to talk to Karrde."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "To Karrde? Will you even be able to send a message from this far out?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Hopefully, through one of his relay stations."

"What's wrong?"

I sat on the bed and looked him straight in the eye. "I want information about Hano and Jinzler."

"Ah." Luke placed his datapad on the bedside table and clasped his hands on his lap. "Suspicious?"

"Very." I sighed and placed my head in my hands. "I'm not sure, but I have a bad feeling about them, like they're hiding something."

He nodded solemnly. "I felt it, too. Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, it might raise more questions if the both of us go. If anyone asks, I'll just say that we forgot something on the ship."

"You think the Chiss will be able to track our message?"

"I don't know, and I don't really care." I rose from the bed and grabbed my utility belt. "We're just covering their backs, right?"

Luke smirked at me. "Right. Tell Karrde I say hello."

"Will do." I left him in the room and walked the short distance to the ship. I passed several Chiss on the way, but they gave me wide berth. I couldn't tell if they were being respectful or impolite.

Thankfully, I was able to get a connection on the holocomm. I'd spared no expense in ensuring that the _Jade's Fire_ had a top-of-the-line communications system. To my surprise, Karrde himself answered after a few minutes, wearing a very inquisitive expression. "Well, if it isn't my favorite Jedi. I thought you were on some super secret mission with the Chiss?"

"Yes, and let's keep that super secret, shall we?" I said, rolling my eyes. "I need your help."

"Anything for you."

"I need you to send me all the data you can find about two beings named Rida Hano and Dean Jinzler."

Karrde's eyes narrowed. "Jinzler, did you say?"

"You know him?"

"Yes. He works for the organization, doing tech work on one of the outposts."

"Really?" I sat back in my chair, deep in thought. Why would an ambassador have a history doing tech work? It certainly wasn't odd for people to change careers—I would know—but that was a very big change. "When did he leave?" I asked.

"I wasn't aware that he had." Karrde looked deeply concerned by this. "He's on this mission with you?"

I nodded. "Says he's the official ambassador from the New Republic."

"That's a lie. There are no ambassadors named Jinzler that I'm aware of."

"Yeah, that's what Luke and I thought as well." I sighed. "What about Hano?"

"Doesn't ring a bell. Female?"

"Yes, from a near-human species called the Nephro."

"Hmm." He pressed a few buttons, and then shook his head. "I've never heard of that species. I'll have to investigate that for you."

"Please do. We're about to go to hyperspace, but send anything you find as soon as possible. I'll check the logs every time we revert for a course correction."

"Will do." Karrde leaned into the pick-up and smiled mischievously. "Oh, and Mara? Does this assistance relieve me of my baby-sitting duties?"

I rolled my eyes again. "We'll see. Good-bye, Karrde."

He saluted. "May the Force be with you."


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

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To no surprise, Aristocra Formbi set up a formal dinner to honor the ragtag group embarking on this mission. Luke had been somewhat worried at first, concerned by our lack of appropriate formal wear, so I suggested that we wear our Jedi robes instead. Luke gawked at that, and I pointed out that would be the _only_time he hears me suggest wearing those things, so he better not get used to it. He had a hard time hiding his grin as we changed for the evening.

The dining room was typical for a ship of the _Chaf Envoy_'s size. Attending were Aristocra Formbi, his aide Feesa, and General Drask; Fel, LaRone, and the other four stormtroopers; Dean Jinzler; Rida Hano; and me and Luke. We sat at a round table that allowed for informal conversation with all the guests. I was disappointed when Luke and I were led to seats away from Formbi, wanting to pick his brain about Chiss culture, but brightened when LaRone took the seat next to us.

During the actual dinner, the conversation was vague and varied, and involved everyone at the table. Jinzler remained standoffish, and Hano remained reverent toward Luke and me, asking dozens of questions about the Jedi Order and how it had changed over the years. She also seemed very interested in my pregnancy, asking when I was due and the sex of the baby. Something about her questioning gave me pause, although I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Once dessert was served, however, everyone began to break off into their own little groups and converse amongst themselves. I noticed with interest that Hano and Jinzler, seated beside each other, were involved in a heated conversation. I wondered what they were discussing, and nudged Luke. He nodded slightly. I felt his concentration in the Force sharpen as he tried to gain a sense of what they were saying. Again he shook his head, indicating that he was unsuccessful. I tried myself, but with all the other noise in the room it was pointless. It was clear, however, that the two were up to something. I vowed to find out what it was before this mission was over. Hopefully even before then.

LaRone turned to me and gestured at my dessert. "Are you enjoying your meal?"

I nodded. It was certainly adequate, and the Chiss—at least, Aristocra Formbi—were gracious hosts. General Drask had barely said one word all evening. "I am. You?"

"It's certainly better than rations." He paused and glanced down at the table. "You'll excuse me, but I'm not entirely sure how I should address you now."

"Oh." I hadn't even thought of that. Had LaRone even known my first name back when we worked together? I couldn't remember for sure, but was certain I'd instructed him and the other stormtroopers to refer to me as Jade. He'd most likely feel odd calling me "Jade" in front of my relatively new husband. "Why don't you just call me Mara?"

LaRone smiled. "Okay, Mara."

I glanced at Luke, wanting to bring him into the conversation, but he was busy talking to Fel. And he seemed a little bit agitated. I decided to leave him to his own devices, and turned back to LaRone. "Have you been on Nirauan since Poln Major?"

"Mostly. Our base of operations is there, of course, but I've spent a lot of time off planet, recruiting and training other stormtroopers."

My gaze turned inquisitive. "You've been training troopers?"

"That's why Thrawn brought us in. I guess he was impressed by our actions on Poln Major. That, or he knew there was no place else we could go and decided to increase his numbers," LaRone said ruefully.

He had a point. He and his friends had deserted their posts, and they would have certainly been executed if they returned to the Empire. "I'm sorry." I didn't know what else to say.

LaRone shrugged. "I'm not. I've had a lot of opportunities on Nirauan. I heard that you visited the planet a few years ago."

"Yes," I said, trying hard to hide the cringe that threatened to overtake my face. Luke and I had broke out of the Empire of the Hand's fortress and fought off stormtroopers with deadly force. Had LaRone trained any of those men? Had they been friends? Again, I was at a loss for words. "Sorry about that."

"There's nothing to be sorry for. We're grateful that you took care of Pestage." His gaze hardened. "We were all very disturbed when we learned of his activities in the cloning chamber."

"Yeah, me too," I muttered. I noted with interest that LaRone avoided saying exactly what was going on under Nirauan's surface. Even loyal Imperials didn't want to think about the return of the Emperor. I began to wonder what life in the Empire of the Hand was really like. Was it possible that it was the fabled altruistic empire actually existed, or would the Empire of the Hand experience the same difficulties as Palpatine's Empire if it ever spanned across the galaxy?

I'd asked myself similar questions three years ago, when Sate Pestage asked me to join the Empire of the Hand. Back then I realized that I no longer belonged in the Empire, and it had been a revelation to me. I couldn't be doubting that, especially while pregnant—could I?

I decided to change the subject. "Do you have family?"

LaRone shook his head. "No, I never did meet anybody special. I'm glad, though, as it's difficult to raise a family on Nirauan. Some of the other men are married and send their families to live elsewhere. It creates a lot of stress."

"Yes, I can imagine," Luke murmured. I looked at him, not having realized that he was paying attention to our conversation. But he was now, one eye trained on Fel and the other on LaRone, watching them with interest. I gave him a threatening look, knowing what he was thinking and reminding him that right now was not the appropriate time to bring up Fel's family life.

Fel shifted uncomfortably, but ignored Luke's comment.

"What's your interest in Outbound Flight?" I asked LaRone, wanting to change the subject.

"Um…" LaRone trailed off, eyes darting between Fel, Luke, and me. Fel's eyes hardened, and there was a moment of unspoken conversation between the two of them. "General Fel asked me to escort him," he said finally. "My team was the group that came upon the wreckage."

"Oh." I looked at Fel out of the corner of my eye. "So you found the distress signal?"

LaRone's lip twitched. "Yes. We reported back to Nirauan as soon as possible."

"And then we contacted the Chiss Ascendancy and began to plan this mission," Fel cut in.

It was exactly as Fel had explained on the comm…and I was beginning to think that he was full of it. But I trusted LaRone, so I decided not to press the subject.

We made small talk during the rest of dessert. I cleaned my plate, finding myself craving sweets when normally I avoided the stuff. Was it pregnancy hormones? Probably. I shrugged my shoulders and licked the remaining frosting off the spoon. I felt Luke's foot brush against my leg. I turned to him, and he held out his plate and smiled. "Want the rest of mine?"

"Are you making fun of me?"

Luke looked affronted. "Oh, no, I'd be much too frightened to tease my pregnant wife."

"Whatever." I grabbed my spoon and helped myself to a large bite of his dessert.

Even after resuming my conversation with LaRone, I could still feel Luke's smile reflecting off the back of my head.

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I was more than ready for sleep on our first night on the _Chaf Envoy_. Dinner had exhausted me—again, I blamed the pregnancy hormones. It was daunting, though, meeting an old friend who I'd long given up on, not to mention questioning the motives of several beings on the mission. As Luke and I got ready for bed that evening, I wondered why I'd even agreed to come along.

I suddenly flashed back to the image of Luke nearly dead in a medical center during my time at the Jedi Academy. Right. I was there to watch his back, as usual. Even when he didn't need it, I felt more comfortable being there. It always amused me how I'd gone from wanting to kill him to wanting to ensure his survival in such a relatively short amount of time.

"So you and LaRone seemed to be getting along well," Luke said as he selected a pair of night clothes from a dresser.

"Yes. I'm really glad he's here." It was the one good thing to happen on this mission so far.

"Hmm." Luke's tone was casual—a little too casual for my tastes. Around me, he was always so bad at hiding his feelings.

I gave him a sidelong look as I sat on the bed to remove my boots. "What is it, Skywalker?"

"Nothing." He said that way too quickly.

"Oh no, you're not getting off this easy. Spill it."

"Well, I was just wondering about your prior history with LaRone. That's all."

"Prior history?" I asked, pulling my outer tunic over my head. "What are you talking about? You know all about that. I worked with the Hand of Judgment on a few missions."

"Right." Luke's eyes twinkled. "But there was never anything else there?"

My eyebrows nearly shot off the top of my head. "Are you mental?"

Luke laughed. "What? It's not that crazy an idea—is it?"

"Perhaps you've forgotten, but I was the Emperor's Hand. I didn't really have much time for dating."

"Oh, please. You're telling me that a beautiful, intelligent, powerful woman such as yourself never dated anyone?"

I rolled my eyes. "Skip the flattery, Skywalker. Yes, it's a crazy idea. Even if I had time to date someone, Palpatine would've had them killed as soon as he found out. He didn't approve of me with boys—or men, for that matter. And he would have found out, trust me."

"Oh." Luke looked away, a forlorn expression on his face. "But you'd been _with _people, right?"

I nodded, remembering that very awkward conversation at the beginning of our relationship. "Yeah. That doesn't mean I dated them." I shrugged my shoulders. "Why do you care, anyway?"

Luke's forehead creased. "Maybe because you're my wife?"

"Exactly." I crossed to him and took his hand. "I'm your wife, now. All that doesn't matter."

"I know, it just makes me sad to think of you back then. Without friends…or even boyfriends…"

Again I shrugged my shoulders, and turned my attention back to getting ready for bed. "What's done is done. There's no use dwelling on it. Right?"

Luke nodded slowly, but I could tell he wasn't entirely convinced. Probably thinking of that strong-willed girl he saw fighting on Poln Major, and trying to reconcile that with what he knew of me now. "Right."

We finished changing in silence, and I got into bed, ready for sleep. Luke called out to me from the doorway to the 'fresher. "Do you need anything?"

I opened my mouth to tell him that I was fine, then closed it. I was somewhat thirsty, and considered getting up to get myself a glass of water before Luke used the refresher. But something stopped me. Luke had tried hard to help during my pregnancy, feeling guilty about what I had to go through, yet I consistently rejected him. Eventually, even if I didn't like it, I was going to have to ask people for help. I might as well learn to accept it.

I was suddenly reminded of all the times I'd yelled at Luke for thinking he could do everything by himself. Oh, I really hated getting a dose of my own medicine.

Nodding slowly, I said, "Yes. You can get me a glass of water."

Luke's grin was so wide, I might have just asked him for a star. "Of course. I'll be right back."

He disappeared into the 'fresher, and this time I was the one to have my smile reflected back at me.

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"Our first stop will be Brask-Oto Command Station," Aristocra Formbi said. "From there we will make the journey into the Redoubt. From there, it should take four days to get to Outbound Flight."

_Four days? _I caught Luke's gaze and grimaced. I sensed that he was also uneasy with being away from the New Republic for so long, but if we wanted to see Outbound Flight, we didn't have any other choice but to stay so long. I tried to look on the bright side—the extra time would give Luke and me a chance to find some answers about the Chiss and our fellow "diplomats."

Early that morning, right upon rising, Luke had tracked down Formbi and persuaded him to give us a private tour of the _Chaf Envoy_. He was pleasant, if somewhat formal. That seemed to be typical of Chiss society. While the rest of the vessel's staff was not overly friendly, the only person who displayed outright hostility was General Drask. It was becoming more and more clear that he did not care for humans or their involvement in this mission.

Thankfully, Drask had other matters to attend to and Luke and I could chew off Formbi's ear on our own.

"And what exactly is the Redoubt?" Luke asked. We were traveling along the main port side corridor of the ship, heading back toward the bay where the _Jade's Fire_ had docked. I wanted to examine Hano's ship, and find out how Jinzler had gotten onboard the vessel. I'd only noticed the _Fire_, Fel's shuttle, and Hano's ship. Had someone dropped him off, or was he picked up by the Chiss? I couldn't see that happening, the way Drask felt about humans. Still, I filed it away as a question to ask later.

"The Redoubt is the last safe haven of the Chiss people," Formbi explained. "It is a very crowded star cluster and still not entirely mapped. It makes travel very difficult. We'll have to drop out of hyperspace often to check our positioning."

"Right." Again I caught Luke's eye and sent a positive feeling. The more time we were in realspace, the more opportunities we'd have to check for data from Karrde. I was already anticipating our arrival at Brask-Oto so I could see if he'd found anything. "I can see how such a place would be an ideal hiding place," I added.

"If you'd like, Aristocra, there are Jedi techniques that can help in navigation," Luke said. "I'd be glad to assist you in the matter."

"Thank you, but that won't be necessary." Formbi paused for a moment. "I do not think General Drask would appreciate such assistance."

"I thought you were in charge of this mission?" I asked.

"I am the representative from the Fifth Ruling Family, and this is one of our vessels. However, General Drask is the military commander and I choose to default to his opinion."

"Right." Something about that still didn't seem right, but I decided to ignore it for the time being, having more important matters to discuss. "What exactly do you know about the destruction of Outbound Flight, Aristocra?"

"Not much, unfortunately," he replied. "I arrived after the vessel had been destroyed. Syndic Mitth'raw'nuruodo did not provide much information on the events that occurred. But one thing was clear—he had attacked the vessel without provocation."

"And that goes against Chiss philosophy," Luke said. "I remember hearing that Thrawn was somewhat of an outcast in your society."

"No, he was not _somewhat _of an outcast. What he did went against every value that we teach our young. He was exiled, and from then he entered your part of the galaxy and joined the Empire."

"I see," I murmured. It was fascinating to hear Thrawn spoken of in such a manner. LaRone and Fel seemed to idolize their former leader, yet his own people had disowned him. I wondered why Thrawn had attacked Outbound Flight in the first place. It seemed almost out of character from what I knew of him. The mission would have posed no threat.

Then again, Palpatine had destroyed thousands of beings for merely existing, and Palpatine had recruited Thrawn. In the end, I wasn't sure what to think.

We arrived at the greeting room that led to the hangar, and Formbi led us inside. "Would it be possible to see some of the different room configurations?" I asked, still fascinated with the idea of a room that could change with the flick of a switch. Leia would love to have one of those in her apartment.

"Of course." Formbi gestured toward the center of the room. Luke and I stood there while Formbi went to a wall panel and pressed a lone button. Within a minute the room had changed entirely. He pressed another button, and again the room was completely different. It certainly was amazing technology.

And then, just as Formbi was changing the room again, my danger sense flared. My eyes began to dart around the room, looking for the source of danger, and I grabbed my lightsaber. Luke felt it too; I could tell by the way his body had tensed. I saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye and moved to avoid it—

Only to be slammed to the ground as Luke threw his body on top of mine. At that moment, there was only one thought at the front of my mind—_protect my baby protect my baby protect my baby!_

As we tumbled to the ground, I curled up my body around my stomach, to protect the burgeoning life growing inside of me. Luke and I landed on our sides with him on top of me and I heard Aristocra Formbi's astonished gasp from across the room.

"Luke, Mara, are you okay?" He was frantic, rushing over from the wall panel as fast as he could. I heard him speak softly into his comlink in what I could only assume was the Chiss language.

Luke didn't answer; his hand came around my side to rest on my stomach. I could tell that he was absolutely petrified. I inhaled deeply and stretched out with the Force to touch the life inside of me. It was still very vague, but it was still there, shining brightly if a little shaken. "I'm fine," I told Luke softly. "_We're _fine." He squeezed my hand and I sensed his regret for throwing me down so hard. But as he rolled off me, I saw that he had no other choice.

A large banner that had been strung across the entire the ceiling was dangling from one end, the other brushing against the floor precariously. From its position, it was clear that it one end had detached from the ceiling, causing the banner to swing in a wide arc, ready to topple everyone that stood in its path. Judging by the size of th banner, it would have toppled everyone standing in the middle of the room.

Luke held out a hand to help me up. I accepted it gratefully, and realized that I hadn't even felt annoyed that he tried so hard to protect me. Perhaps because I felt the same way he did.

My hand again fell upon my stomach and I turned to Aristocra Formbi, suddenly very, very angry. "We're fine, Formbi. But perhaps you should tell us what the kriff just happened."

His arms were raised in a surrender position. "I do not know. Those banners are firmly secured to the ceiling. It is impossible for them to detach!"

Luke eyed the end of the banner, still swinging slightly in the air. The edges had clearly been cut. "Impossible?" His voice was calm, hiding the anger I knew he felt. Luke was always much more threatening this way, and I shivered slightly. He mistook my intention and placed an arm around me. "My wife is pregnant, Aristocra. I do not take kindly to 'accidents' that threaten her life."

Formbi also noticed Luke's emphasis on the word accident. "I assure you, Master Skywalker, that this was not the work of a Chiss."

"Are you sure?" I asked, thinking of General Drask and his obvious dislike of us.

"Yes." Formbi surely seemed adamant, but hadn't he just told us the story of how Thrawn went against Chiss philosophy and brought dishonor to his people? If General Drask really hated humans so much, I wouldn't put such an action past him.

Then again, perhaps Formbi was right, and this wasn't the action of a Chiss. I knew nothing about Rida Hano, but she seemed too interested in me and Luke and the Jedi to try to kill us—at least before getting all the information she wanted. Dean Jinzler, on the other hand, had been a tech. And a tech would be able to get into this room and sabotage Chiss systems.

"I assure you, this was an accident," Formbi said, his expression pleading.

Luke and I stared at him intently. "I hope so, Aristocra," Luke said finally. "Because if you cannot guarantee my wife's safety, we will have to depart the mission at Brask-Oto."

Formbi shook his head. "That will not be necessary."

"We'll see about that," I said, my hand still resting on my belly.

Formbi swallowed hard and nodded, then led us from the room, while a Chiss team entered to examine the damage. As we returned to the stateroom, one thing was certain—I'd be checking my messages the moment the _Chaf Envoy _reverted from hyperspace. And if we stayed, the next several days would be full of investigations.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

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The lightwhip strikes close to my torso, nearly singeing my combat jumpsuit. I dodge out of the way, deftly contorting my body out of range of the lethal strike. Lumiya growls but I push forward, using her anger and distraction to my advantage.

My violet blade is swift, making nimble strikes against her longer, more unpredictable weapon. She retaliates, swinging the bright tendrils in a wide arc over my head, while at the same time calling on the Force to throw a large boulder in my direction. I hold out my hand and the boulder hits an invisible barrier in the Force. It falls to the ground, making a large crack in the stone beneath our feet.

Again I press my advantage, leaping toward her with my lightsaber pointed directly at her chest. Lumiya brings her lightwhip up to parry, but is too slow and must roll to the ground to avoid my attack. I stumble over her body, instantly turning around and preparing myself for another attack.

The wind whips around us, loose tendrils from my braid blowing free in the harsh atmosphere of Caprioril. But we do not allow the environment to affect us. We stand in impasse for several seconds, our weapons held tightly at our sides, both waiting for the other to make the first move.

There is a flicker of awareness, a warning from the Force that I have come to recognize and welcome during my years serving the Emperor. I will not win this battle, but I can escape if I try. At that moment I wonder if it is worth the effort, if I would rather take this cyborg with me to the beyond than continue to live as a free, albeit poor and disadvantaged, woman.

But again I feel a nudge from the Force, a reassurance that things will be okay. I cannot possibly imagine how things will get better, how I could ever return to something similar to my old lifestyle and be content, if not happy.

_YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER._

The voice in my head spurs me back to the present, as it always does. It reminds me of my purpose, of my sacred duty. My master may be dead, but I am not. And I will keep fighting until my last command as the Emperor's Hand is finally completed.

I give Lumiya a wicked smile, and then strike.

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"Mara? Mara?"

A warm hand fell on my arm and rubbed, trying to gently pull me from sleep. Instead I jumped, startled at the presence of a person next to me in bed, especially _his_ presence. Rage boiled up inside of me and I reacted on pure instinct. I grabbed his arm with both hands and pushed as hard I as could, reaching out into the Force for assistance.

"Ow!" Luke fell onto the floor in a heap, and for a moment all I could see was his unkempt blond hair sticking up past the side of the mattress. One hand flew to my mouth as I realized what I'd just done, while the other fell to my stomach. My eyes welled up with tears and I had to look away as Luke rose from the floor and hesitantly perched on the very edge of the bed. "What was that for?" His voice was harsh, but he softened upon seeing the tears in my eyes. "Mara? What's wrong?"

I wiped my eyes with the heel of my hand. "Nothing. Stupid pregnancy hormones." My thoughts were reeling, my brain still in sleep mode and startled from hearing that voice in my head once more. After Nirauan, I thought those old memories had gone away forever. Apparently, I was wrong.

"Then why did you throw me off the bed?"

"You should know better by now than to wake me up from a dead sleep."

Luke was not impressed with my excuse. "Mara."

I blew out a harsh breath, and could not stop another tear from falling down my cheek. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize what I was doing."

Luke nodded knowingly. "Another dream?"

I nodded back, still avoiding his gaze.

He scooted over on the bed until he was next to me. "Your dreams are getting more frequent, aren't they?"

Another nod. "And they're getting…different."

"Good different or bad different?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Good, I think. I'm not dying, at least. And I seem to be getting the upper hand in the duel. But…"

"But what?"

"…But now I'm hearing that last command in my head." I cringed at the words, and could hardly believe that I was being so open. Maybe it was the whole pregnancy thing. Or maybe I was just growing up. Perish the thought.

Luke cocked his head. "That concerns me, Mara. I thought you were…over all that."

"You think it doesn't concern me, too? I'm the one who just shoved my husband out of bed. I'm the one thinking murderous thoughts of the person whose baby I'm carrying."

He folded me into his embrace. "I know. It's okay."

I let him whisper soothing words to me, knowing that it made him feel better about the situation. And if I was being completely honest with myself, it made me feel better, too. Plus, it was always nice to be held by him.

See? Pregnancy hormones.

"Perhaps we should meditate, and try to figure out if your shifting dreams mean something."

I shook my head. "Maybe later, after this mission is over. I don't think I can concentrate enough right now."

"Okay. But my offer is always open, whenever you want."

"I know."

We fell silent. The steady thump of Luke's heartbeat calmed me, and my eyes started to close again. Then I remembered something. "Hey, why'd you wake me up in the first place?"

Luke tilted his head to look at me, and made a regretful face. "We're almost at Brask Oto. Formbi wants us at a ceremony in half an hour."

I sprung up in bed. "Are we out of hyperspace?" Before he could answer, I reached out with the Force and found my answer. "Good." I smacked my palm on the mattress and climbed out of bed.

"Where are you going?" Luke asked, still concerned for my mindset.

But we had more important things to worry about at that moment. "I'm going to check our messages; see if Karrde has any information on Hano or Jinzler. _You _are going to investigate the welcome room, specifically that banner. With us coming up on the command station, the Chiss will be preoccupied."

Luke grinned. "I knew there was a reason I married you."

I pulled a fresh tunic over my head, and grinned back at him. "Funny; you said the same thing the other night."

Luke scowled and tossed my cloak at my head.

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We met on the command station observation deck. Brask Oto Command Station glistened in empty space outside the viewport, a double-pyramid-shaped mass of white metal and very different from any space station I'd ever seen before.

There Formbi had us "pause and consider," stating that before we were to go any further on this mission, we all had to be certain of our intentions. I was beginning to wonder exactly how treacherous the Redoubt really was. Luke and I had been to the Maw several years ago on a diplomatic mission, and that had become my benchmark for tricky navigation.

When at the end of the ceremony Formbi somehow flipped the visuals in the viewport and the Redoubt came into glorious being in front of me, I gained a new standard for tricky navigation. It seemed like there were hundreds of stars packed into a compact sphere, and the _Chaf Envoy _was going straight inside.

From beside me, Luke let out a low whistle. I nodded my head in agreement. "Perhaps we ought to remind Formbi of our offer to help with navigation," he said out of the corner of his mouth.

I shrugged my shoulders. "They know this place better than we do. And they have LaRone's navigational data to follow, not to mention Outbound Flight's distress signal."

"If all that data remains stable in a place like this." Luke looked back to the viewport, awe on his still-youthful face. I always loved that about him—that no matter how many things he'd seen and accomplished, he remained that wide-eyed farm boy from Tatooine.

Formbi announced that we'd be jumping to hyperspace soon and reminded us that the journey would take approximately four days. Four days on a ship with two unknowns, a Chiss general who couldn't stand humans or Jedi, and an Imperial general who was supposed to be friendly but didn't seem to be completely honest.

It would be, for lack of a better word, an interesting journey.

Luke and I hurried back to our stateroom after the ceremony and proceeded to divulge our findings. "Karrde sent over Jinzler's employment record." I handed over a datacard with the information. "He just recently started working on one of his outposts. Karrde speculates that he somehow intercepted one of the Empire of the Hand's messages."

Luke furrowed his brow. "Karrde's security must be getting lax now that Ghent's working for the New Republic."

"Yeah, Karrde isn't happy about it. But Karrde still uses all of Ghent's old protocols. Jinzler has to be very technically savvy to slice through that."

"Which means he needs to be watched like a hawk-bat for the next four days. Shall you take that, or shall I?"

"You take Jinzler, I'll take Hano."

"Which means that whatever information Karrde sent about Hano is much more interesting," Luke said knowingly.

I smiled innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about, Master Skywalker."

Luke groaned. "Don't start that now. We have important things to discuss."

"Okay," I pouted, loathe to stop teasing him but he did have a point. "According to Karrde's information, Hano shouldn't exist."

"What?"

"Karrde could only find one reference to the Nephro. They're a near-human species that never left the Outer Rim. Correction—they _were_a near-human species. Apparently, they died out when the Vagaari attacked them about forty years ago."

"Right around the time Outbound Flight supposedly saved them," Luke finished for me. "Could Hano possibly be the lone survivor?"

"Who knows? But I trust Karrde, and I _don't_ trust Hano. Something is off about her. I know you've sensed it."

"Yes, but I've also sensed something off with Jinzler," Luke said. "And he has the technical background to get into the greeting room and sabotage that banner."

"So it was cut?"

"Oh yeah. There's no way it could have detached on its own."

"Hmm." I paused, considering the situation. Luke was right; Jinzler had the technical background to pull off that bit of sabotage and he was suspicious. "But think about it. Hano is going along on this mission so she can pay her respects to the Jedi, right?"

"Right."

"But you started the Academy four years ago," I pointed out. "Why would she wait until now to reach out to the Jedi?"

"She's been in the Unknown Regions."

"Exactly! She shouldn't know anything about us, but she does. She knows about the Academy and our wedding. She knows things about us that only someone reading the holozines would learn. It just doesn't fit, Luke."

He sighed. "You're right. They're both prime suspects. Maybe they're working together?"

"Possibly."

"Which brings us back to the point of watching them like hawk-bats over the next four days. I'll take Jinzler, you take Hano?"

I nodded. "It's just like old times, isn't it?"

Luke placed a hand on my belly. "Well. Not exactly like old times." He smiled at me, then kissed me.

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During the next four days we dropped out of hyperspace several times for navigational readings and to make course corrections. I took advantage of those moments to check my messages from Karrde, but didn't receive anything other than the first message. I wondered if his signal could get out this far, but it didn't really matter. Luke and I tailed Jinzler and Hano as discussed. The two of them rarely spoke to one another, except at dinner, so I was beginning to doubt that they were working together. Jinzler continued to express the same dislike of the Jedi, but then again so did General Drask. For all we knew, Drask could have been the saboteur, or even Fel, who had invited us on this mission in the first place. I didn't really believe that either Drask or Fel would be involved in something so insidious, but anything was possible.

On the second day, I followed Rida Hano to one of the observation rooms. She sat near the viewport, staring out at the stars. I allowed her a few minutes of solitude before stepping inside. "Do you mind if I join you?" I asked.

Hano turned around and smiled. "Not at all." She gestured to the empty seat next to her. "I'd be honored, Jedi Skywalker."

"Please, call me Mara," I reminded her.

Hano nodded. "It is a lovely view, is it not?"

I took a seat, keeping my eyes on the starlines zooming past us. "Hyperspace—the traveler's companion," I said, quoting the old proverb. "Do you travel a lot?"

"One travels often in the Unknown Regions. Of course, the Nephro have no choice, with no homeworld."

"Of course," I echoed. "Where are the rest of your people?"

"On our ship. Others wanted to join me, but it was decided that only one should make the journey to honor our Jedi saviors."

"You must feel very honored to have been chosen."

"Yes." Hano's eyes turned distant. "I do feel honored." She glanced at me and smiled again. "You must feel honored, too, as the wife of the Jedi Master."

I snorted. "Nah, he's the one who should be honored."

Hano looked confused at first, then chuckled. "Oh, you are being humorous. I understand."

"He is a wonderful husband," I allowed. "Tell me, Rida, were you present during Thrawn's attack on Outbound Flight?"

She nodded. "The Jedi had just defended us against the Vagaari attackers. They were all but destroyed, with the help of the Chiss. But then the Chiss turned against the Jedi. I was very saddened."

"So both the Jedi _and _the Chiss fought against the Vagaari?"

"Yes. We escaped to hyperspace during the attack."

"You didn't think it prudent to assist the Jedi who had just saved you?"

Hano glared at me. "We were in no shape to be defending anyone. We would have been destroyed."

I help up my hands. "Of course. No offense intended."

"I wish that we could have helped. But nothing could be done. Thrawn was too powerful."

"Yes, he was," I murmured. _But not strong enough._

"When are you due?" Hano asked, changing the subject.

"Excuse me?"

She gestured toward my stomach. "Your child."

"Oh. Um, I'm about four months."

"So you have nearly six months to go. I bet you are excited."

"Yes, I am." I kept my tone light, although my mind was whirling—did the Nephro have similar reproductive systems to humans, or was it just a lucky guess? I tried a question: "Have you ever had children, Rida?"

She shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately, I was never able to conceive. It is a great regret of my life."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"But I can only imagine how happy Master Skywalker is," Hano continued, "to have a child of his own." She smiled. "He seems like he will make a wonderful father."

"Yes," I agreed. "He will."

"I bet he doesn't even worry about hardly knowing his own father."

"No, he doesn't…" I trailed off and kept my face perfectly neutral, but my mind was reeling. How in the galaxy did Hano know that Vader was Luke's father? It wasn't something he or Leia kept secret, but it wasn't something that the majority of the galaxy knew, either. For all everyone knew, Luke's father was Anakin Skywalker, the hero of the Clone Wars.

But Hano had said that Luke "hardly knew" his father…which would imply that she knew his true parentage.

And my suspicions about Rida Hano suddenly grew tenfold.

I excused myself; even though I was supposed to be watching her, I could no longer keep a straight face in front of her. I wanted to ask other information, like how she came to hear of the mission to Outbound Flight, but I could do that later. I had to tell Luke this piece of information.

I hurried away, and could feel Hano's gaze on my back the entire time.

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Two days later, the _Chaf Envoy_ arrived at Outbound Flight.

Luke and I were at the command station observation deck when we came out of hyperspace. The dreadnaughts had crashed into a small planetoid with little atmosphere and gravity. The six ships were perched on the edge of a cliff, the evidence of battle clear on the hulls. Only three could be seen; apparently the other dreadnaughts had settled beneath the scree that covered the hills and valleys. How they made it here after Thrawn's attack was anyone's guess. Formbi believed that Thrawn had the vessels towed here, although I believed otherwise.

I maintained a calm exterior as we approached the planetoid; inside I was anything but. Palpatine had done this—had ordered the death of fifty thousand people. Thrawn might have pulled the trigger, but Palpatine had ordered Outbound Flight's destruction, just to get rid of a few Jedi. Almost like a test run before he got rid of the rest.

Even after so long, the extent of Palpatine's vileness never ceased to disturb me. Luke always pointed out that was a good thing.

The _Chaf Envoy_ landed on a small hill next to the exposed dreadnaught. Crewers ran a transfer tube between the Chiss ship and the dreadnaught's docking bay. After an hour, we were ready to go inside. In the end it was Fel, LaRone and his team, Formbi, Drask, Hano, Jinzler, and Luke and I who made the trip.

After that discussion in the observation room, I immediately told Luke about Hano's slip of the tongue. He was very interested, of course, but still believed that Jinzler was our saboteur. Perhaps he was right, and Jinzler was involved—but I knew that I was right, too. There was something wrong about Hano.

She seemed stoic as we gathered around the docking tube but I could feel her mind racing. I only got small glimpses of her mindset; either the Nephro were hard to read in general, or she just had strong natural shields.

Or perhaps she wasn't Nephro at all, but some other species that were unable to be influenced by the Force. I suppressed a chuckle as I entertained the fact that she was actually a Hutt in disguise.

With barely a word, our small group traveled precariously through the dreadnaught's docking tube, the airlock, and then into a wide corridor. And then things got really interesting as Luke reached out and grabbed my arm. I met his gaze, ready to ask him what was wrong, when I sensed it, too.

"What is the matter?" Formbi asked, seeing our silent exchange.

"It's Outbound Flight," Luke said, his voice tight. "We're not alone, Aristocra Formbi. There are survivors onboard."

The gasps were evident. "Survivors?" Fel said, his voice concerned. "Are you certain?"

Luke and I both nodded. I could sense them—hundreds of human minds, somewhere deep beneath us. "Yes," I answered. "We can sense them."

Drask was immediately on alert, wanting to call in more Chiss soldiers to investigate the ship. But Luke calmly pointed out that the survivors might not take kindly to armed Chiss soldiers approaching them. Formbi agreed and we moved onward toward the survivors.

Luke was up front with Fel and the four stormtroopers while I held up the rear with LaRone. Stretching himself deep into the Force, Luke guided us toward the survivors. They were clustered around the center of the dreadnaught, in what I thought was one of the common areas. It was hard to tell how many of them there were on the ship, but the colony seemed to have grown to a rather impressive size after forty years.

Suddenly Luke held up his arm and we came to a stop. "Mara, can you come here for a second?" he called out.

I hurried forward, passing by a rather annoyed-looking General Drask. He was not happy about deferring command of the mission to the Jedi in order for us to better locate the survivors. "What's up?"

Luke pulled me close and whispered in my ear. "Do you sense anything different?"

I closed my eyes, falling deeper into the Force, and nodded. "They're on the move."

"It's only a small group. But they're heading our way."

My eyes snapped up. "You think there's danger?"

Luke shook his head. "Not at all. Do you?"

"No." I closed my eyes again. "I sense…anticipation."

"Me, too."

"Would the Jedi be so kind as to tell us what's going on?" General Drask said tersely.

Luke suppressed a sigh. "A group of survivors is headed our way."

Drask's hand strayed toward his charric weapon. "They must be monitoring us." He glanced around, eyes falling on several holocams throughout the corridor.

"No," Luke said. I could tell by the look on his face that something important had just happened. "That's not it at all." He looked to me again. "Do you sense it?"

"No."

"Follow me." He took my hands in his and began to breath deeply. I felt him stretch out to me in the Force and I grabbed hold of his presence. It was strange that, in the middle of this crazy mission, I was reminded of all our training sessions at the Jedi Academy. He had always been a wonderful teacher, and even after two years of marriage and three years of Knighthood, he continued to help me grow in the Force.

I sensed Drask's annoyance growing but pushed it aside. Slowly, Luke's presence in the Force drifted away, through the dreadnaught's corridors and down turbolifts until we came upon what he was leading me to find—the survivors. They were a group of five, with benevolent intentions, but I was only focused on one particular presence…a presence that was also reaching out to us in the Force.

I gasped and let out a Huttese curse that would definitely have to be eradicated from my vocabulary once the baby arrived.

"What's going on?" Drask demanded.

"What's going on," Luke answered in measured tones, "is that there is a Jedi approaching us."

"Another Jedi?" Drask's eyes narrowed. "Is that possible?"

"It was a Jedi mission," I pointed out, "and there were Jedi onboard. It's theoretically possible that some survived Thrawn's attack."

"Can you sense anything about the Jedi?" Jinzler asked. He seemed jittery.

Luke shook his head. "Mara?"

"Me neither." I gave Jinzler a pointed look. "What's your interest?"

Jinzler blinked. "I'm just curious."

"Sure." _And suspicious as hell._ Maybe Luke was right after all. Hano, on the other hand, seemed excited by this new development.

"Should we continue on, or wait for them to come to us?" Fel asked, recapturing my focus.

"Continue on," Luke said without thinking. "They might get suspicious if we seem like we're holding back."

Following Luke's lead, we continued on. I fell back to walk beside LaRone. Long ago I had seen him in stormtrooper armor, but it was almost disconcerting to see him wear that uniform now. Yet at the same time it was somewhat comforting. I was reminded of how easy it had been to work with LaRone and the other members of the Hand of Judgment. They'd been an efficient group, following orders without question and taking initiative when necessary. The Jedi Order was plenty efficient, but the entity we served—the New Republic—was not. Once again I wondered if it was possible to have a benevolent Empire.

I shrugged my shoulders. Whether it was possible or not, it didn't matter. I was a Jedi, wife, and mother-to-be. My Imperial past was long behind me.

I caught another glimpse of LaRone out of the corner of my eye, his armor gleaming in the dark corridor and blaster rifle held with precision. Okay, perhaps that past was actually beside me, rather than behind me.

After several minutes of walking Luke called for us to stop again. We were approaching a turbolift and I knew immediately why we'd halted. The survivors were on their way up.

It wasn't long before the door opened and five humans—two females and three males—stepped out of the lift. They were all middle aged, approximately fifty to seventy years old, which meant they'd all been alive during Outbound Flight's destruction.

One of the women stepped forward, wearing a nondescript tunic and pants that closely resembled Jedi attire. Her long, curly brown hair was pulled back at the nape of her neck. Lines and wrinkles adorned her face, but she still felt youthful in the Force. And now, with her standing in front of me, I could sense it quite clearly—she was definitely the Force user we'd felt earlier.

"Hello," she said, her voice soft and delicate but not at all weak. "Who are you?"

"I am Aristocra Formbi of the Chiss Ascendancy," Formbi said, inclining his head. "With me are representatives from the Empire of the Hand and the New Republic. We come in peace."

I nearly groaned at the clichéd line, but I supposed it was important for Formbi to point out that little detail so we didn't start a firefight.

Formbi looked like he was going to speak further but Luke interrupted him, his eyes locked onto the woman—actually, the weapon clipped to the woman's belt. "Are you a Jedi?"

The woman turned her attention to Luke. "Who are you?" she asked again.

Smart, not wanting to give away her secrets before she got ours.

Luke held out his hand. "I am Luke Skywalker, a Jedi Master."

The woman's face blossomed into a grin. She accepted Luke's handshake. "Yes, I am a Jedi. My name is Callista Masana.

"Welcome to Outbound Flight."


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

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Callista and the other four humans, members of an organization they called the Peacekeepers, led us through a maze of corridors and turbolifts that eventually ended up on _Dreadnaught-Five_, the survivors' home. It was buried under the rock and rubble on the surface, providing more protection from the vast amounts of radiation given off by the Redoubt. There were only about two hundred colonists living on _D-Five_, but it was organized, efficient…and peaceful.

And while this Callista person was not in charge of the colony, she might as well been. I wanted to be annoyed with her, seeing how flabbergasted Luke was at the prospect of interacting with an Old Republic Jedi, but I couldn't. Everyone respected and admired her, consulting her opinion even though she had no real authority. It was obvious why, judging by the reverential looks they gave Luke and me. She was a Jedi. The only one left.

That confused me, giving what I knew of Jorus C'baoth, the Jedi who spearheaded the Outbound Flight project. He did not command the same sort of admiration as Callista. He commanded fear and obedience, but not respect. Why did the colonists look up to her so much, instead of fearing her? I could only imagine that the answer lied in Outbound Flight's final moments, and her ability to shape the colony over the past forty years.

We came to a stop in what Callista called the Council Meeting Chamber. This was where the Managing Council, the colony's ruling body, governed. We were presented to Chas Uliar, the Director of the colony. My mind boggled, thinking of how so few people managed to not only survive the horrible destruction, but also create a stable government out of it. Perhaps the New Republic could learn something from them.

After exchanging introductions and pleasantries and explaining why we were interloping on their colony, the real discussion began—what happened to Outbound Flight, and what had changed in the galaxy over the past forty years.

I didn't know which story would be easier to tell.

Luke and Callista took leadership roles for both sides—the explorers and the colonists. Nobody complained, although Drask seemed annoyed and Formbi somewhat nervous. Jinzler looked mournful and I wondered why he wasn't taking point, being the "ambassador" and all. But I decided to let that slide until later. Hano, on the other hand, seemed fascinated by everything, especially Callista. It fit her story—that the Jedi saved her people—but I still didn't buy it. But I would put my suspicions aside until later.

Narrowing my eyes, I turned my attention back to Callista's story.

"It was all Jorus C'baoth's idea," Callista explained. "For two years he struggled to gain support for the project, getting approval from the Jedi Council, then the Senate, only to have it reneged at later dates. With all the corruption in the Republic, it was hard to explain the necessity of such a large project, even though C'baoth was adamant that we needed to explore other galaxies.

"But eventually he got the support he wanted, and after a particularly showy demonstration on the planet Barlok, he got even more than he asked for. At first, there was supposed to be minimal Jedi participation, but the project spiraled out of control and more Jedi volunteered to go along. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine approved everything, encouraging the project and Jedi participation.

"I was young then, only twenty-four when Outbound Flight launched. It appealed to my romantic side, going on a grand adventure. My..." Callista trailed off, searching for the appropriate word. "Partner," she decided on, "Geith, also came along.

"At first, everything was perfect. But then C'baoth began to take more and more control over the mission. He believed that the Jedi should be in charge—that the Force granted us with particular gifts because it wanted us to rule. The Jedi did not agree, but none would dare challenge him. Then he tried to imprison some colonists in the supply core for daring to speak out against him. After that, we knew he needed to be stopped. A group of Jedi agreed to confront C'baoth down on _D-One_." Callista paused. "It was then that they arrived."

It was completely silent. Nobody needed to ask who "they" were. My gaze turned to Formbi, who gazed down with a penitent expression. Drask looked vacant.

"I'm not really sure what happened next," Callista said. "I assume that C'baoth and the other tried to talk to the new arrivals—the Chiss. Then there was a battle. The Jedi had split up; I had stayed in the supply core to help those C'baoth had imprisoned. I imagine that's the only reason we managed to survive the attack. I could tell just from the noise…" She trailed off, voice hitching as she remembered the destruction, all the senseless deaths.

"We jumped to hyperspace then. We got out of the supply core just in time for us to revert. Then we crashed. It took years before we were able to get down to _D-One _and explore the bridge, but when we tried to call up the ship logs, nothing happened. So even we don't know the full story. After crashing, we knew we had to band together to survive. So we did." She took a deep breath, grateful to have come to the end of her tale.

"Now you know what happened to us," Director Uliar said. "Why don't you fill us in on the past forty years?"

There was a beat; then all eyes turned to Luke. He stared straight ahead, belatedly noticing that he was now the center of attention. His eyes widened and he held out a hand. "No, Ambassador Formbi, you should speak."

Formbi shook his head. "I believe you know the story of your Republic far better than I."

Luke grimaced and looked to me. _You're on your own, flyboy,_ I sent to him. I patted his arm. _It does sound better coming from you._

His grimace turned into a full-fledged scowl. He sighed reluctantly. "Okay. Well, as it turned out, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was actually…"

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Luke talked for a long, long time. The colonists seemed shocked by all that had occurred in the known galaxy, understandably. Callista especially was distraught. I wanted to comfort her, but felt odd doing so, barely knowing her. So instead I held Luke's hand and sent soothing thoughts in her direction. She glanced at me a few times, looking grateful.

There was still much to discuss, but Uliar insisted that we be shown to spare quarters. Formbi said that we could stay on the _Chaf Envoy_, but Uliar would have none of it. We returned to the _Chaf Envoy_ to get some supplies, dropped them off in our rooms, and went back to the council chambers. Then Formbi finally took charge, mentioning that it was essential that the colony be moved, as it was located in Chiss territory. The Managing Council was not pleased by this at all, and a heated discussion broke out.

After a while, Luke's Jedi patience reached the end of its rope. He had wanted to question Callista since the moment he realized there was a Jedi onboard, and had shown superhuman restraint in waiting so long. But now, he was done waiting. While Formbi and Uliar went back and forth about relocating the colony, Luke pulled Callista aside, that familiar gleam in his eyes. The gleam he always got whenever Tionne presented him with a new textbook or holocron. I remembered that look well from when several other apprentices and I returned to the Academy carrying Jedi and Sith holocrons. Luke had been over the moon then. I could only imagine what he felt now, talking to an actual Jedi Knight from the Old Republic. We always assumed that more of them had survived the Purge, but so far none had come forward. Perhaps they hadn't yet learned of the Jedi Academy, or still feared backlash against the Jedi. Considering what Luke and I had just gone through with Fey'lya, I couldn't blame them very much.

But Callista…she could answer every question Luke could concoct. Knowing the fate about to befall the poor woman, who had only just learned that everyone she knew from the Republic was dead, I decided it was best to intervene.

Luke had barely gotten a few words out of his mouth before I appeared at his side, rubbing my belly soothingly. "Luke, do you have water in your pack?" I asked him.

Sure enough, his overprotective instincts came shooting to the forefront. "Yes, love." He pulled out a bottle and handed it to me. "Where's your pack?"

"I left it in the room." I smiled at him before taking a generous sip of water. "Thank you."

"You should keep that with you all the time," Callista said, staring at my stomach. "Hydration is very important while pregnant."

Even though I had just rushed to this woman's assistance, her suggestion still raised my ire. But she did have a point. "Of course. I was just tired of carrying the pack." It was a complete lie, of course, but it served its purpose of excusing my presence in this conversation.

"Is there somewhere we could go and talk?" Luke asked Callista. "I have so many questions—if you're up to it, of course. I know you've had quite a shock."

"No, it's fine," Callista said. "I have questions for you, as well." They exchanged a smile and Callista gestured to leave the room. Luke followed, remembering belatedly that I was standing there and turning around to hold out his hand.

I ignored it, brushing past him to draw alongside Callista. I gave him a look that only he could comprehend. He cringed, but underneath that chagrined expression I could sense annoyance. He'd finally stopped doting on me, and now I didn't want his attention being taken away from me.

Well, so what? It was my prerogative as his pregnant wife.

I whipped around and engaged Callista in small talk, leaving him to stew with questions before we got to another small room that was filled with a table and chairs. Obviously an eating area of some kind. Luke and I took seats across from Callista. He immediately took my hand and I let him, the moment of uneasiness between us already passed.

I guess I was almost as interested as he was to learn the stories Callista had to tell.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions," Callista started. "If the Jedi really are dead." Her expression turned downcast, and I felt a huge spike of sympathy for her.

Luke nodded sadly. "There were a few that survived. Obi-Wan Kenobi. Mara's mother, we think, but aren't entirely sure. Valin Halcyon. And we believe there are more in hiding, but I guess many are still wary of announcing themselves as Jedi." He glanced at me. "Some members of our government haven't been exactly," he paused to consider his words, "fond of the Jedi, you could say."

Callista's brow furrowed. "What about those who accompanied you? The Chiss Ascendancy and Empire of the Hand?"

"None of them have Jedi. It's something we're trying to correct."

"How many Jedi are there?"

Luke bit his lip. "About a hundred. Fifty Knights, fifty Apprentices, two Masters."

Callista's entire expression fell. "One hundred?" For a moment, I thought she might cry. But she blinked away tears, composing herself immediately. "That's how many of us there were on this ship," she said in a small voice.

"There were a hundred Jedi on Outbound Flight?" Luke sounded incredulous. "I thought it was much smaller than that."

"Originally, that was the plan. But Master C'baoth gained more and more support for the project, and the Council couldn't refuse him. And Chancellor Palpatine gave him everything he wanted." Callista let out a sigh. "He was really Emperor?"

I nodded. "Yes. And that's exactly the kind of thing he would do—round up as many Jedi as he could in one place and destroy them in one blast." I felt my hands clench into fists and had to remind myself to breathe deeply, that I shouldn't get too stressed. "He was a vile man."

"It's just…so hard to imagine. Although, thinking about it, even then there were people who didn't like him very much."

I snorted. "They were very astute, then. It took me a long time." A sad silence fell over the room. Over the past few days I'd felt a sense of nostalgia for the Empire. And now I was faced with a woman who lost nearly everything because of Palpatine, the man I served.

Luke squeezed my hand.

Callista, not understanding what was going on beneath the surface, spoke up again. "You mentioned that Obi-Wan Kenobi survived the Purge?"

"Yes," Luke said. "He was my first mentor—the person who introduced me to the Force. He was killed by Darth Vader not long after that."

"Darth Vader?"

"A Sith Lord," Luke answered, obviously not wanting to get into the entire story. "Along with Palpatine."

Callista nodded. "There was talk of the Sith reappearing about five years before Outbound Flight. I guess the Council was right." She paused. "I always wondered what happened to Obi-Wan. He left Outbound Flight so abruptly."

Luke's head snapped up. "Obi-Wan was here?"

"Yes. But Chancellor Palpatine himself came out to retrieve him, along with his Padawan, Anakin Skywalker. I always wondered why."

I could barely look at Luke. We both knew exactly why Palpatine would go to such lengths to ensure Anakin Skywalker survived. Palpatine had his sights on him even back then. Anakin had to be all of what—fourteen? It shouldn't have surprised me, but it did.

Just another reminder, then, of what the Empire was really like.

"Palpatine took them off the ship because he wanted Anakin," Luke explained. "Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader."

The shock on Callista's face was evident. "Anakin? Sweet little Anakin?" She shook her head. "No, that's not possible. How do you know this?"

Now I was the one to squeeze Luke's hand in reassurance. "I know," he said quietly, "because he was my father."

Callista stared at him with widening eyes. "Oh. Oh! Skywalker! Of course…I'm sorry, I didn't make the connection. Skywalker is a common name and marriage was forbidden for Jedi from Coruscant…" She trailed off, realizing her excitement was inappropriate. "I'm sorry," she said again.

"It's okay," Luke assured her. "I've made my peace."

Callista was silent for a moment. "What about Diya, then?"

Luke and I shared a curious glance. "Diya?" I asked.

"Diya Rohan. She was a Jedi from Coruscant. Palpatine ordered her to leave with Anakin and Obi-Wan."

"I'm sorry, I've never heard of her," Luke said.

"Oh." Callista looked saddened. "She was a good friend. I was hoping that she had survived." She paused. "It still doesn't make sense after all these years. She couldn't stand Palpatine, spoke out against him every time the Council would listen. She left the Republic to get away from him and his influence. Why would he remove her? She was a nuisance to him." Callista shook her head.

"I don't know the answer to that." Luke shrugged. "I don't think any of us can really understand the mind of Palpatine." But even as he spoke, a theory began to formulate in my mind…

Callista nodded slowly. "From what you say, I believe that is a very good thing."

We were silent for long moments. Then Luke spoke up. "Would you mind telling us about the Order, Callista?"

Callista smiled. "If you will tell me about yours."

Luke smiled back. "Deal."

.

.

.

We talked for a long time. Callista told us about her life as a Jedi, how she'd come under the tutelage of a man named Djinn Altis. Separate from the Jedi living on Coruscant, Callista maintained a life outside the Order and entered into a relationship with a fellow Jedi named Geith. Together they agreed to volunteer for Outbound Flight, believing that it would be their chance to make a difference in the galaxy. In the end, Geith gave his life to save the colonists, and Callista lost everything she'd ever known.

It grew late. Uliar sought us out and advised that we retire to our quarters for the evening. Tomorrow we would be given the opportunity to explore Outbound Flight.

Overwhelmed by the events of the day, Luke and I arrived back at our quarters. Uliar had offered us a meal but I felt guilty accepting, so I greedily ate a few of our ration bars. I wasn't yet to the point where I wanted to eat everything in sight, but it was definitely not a good idea for me to skip meals. Luke ate his bar slowly, his blue eyes far away.

When we were done, I nudged him with my elbow. "What're you thinking?" It was a silly question, as I could sense his thoughts almost as well as my own, but I knew he'd appreciate my asking.

"About Anakin," he said. "How Palpatine extricated him from the mission. Why Anakin and Obi-Wan even got on the ship in the first place."

"I guess Palpatine didn't know _everything_," I pointed out. "At least, not at first."

Luke let out a short laugh. "Yeah." He glanced around our small room. "I can't believe he was _here, _though. It's so…unreal."

"I know." I patted his arm. "What do you think about this Diya Rohan person?"

Luke shrugged. "Like I said, I've never heard of her. She's not in any of the records Tionne's uncovered." He sighed and rose from the bed, pacing the floor. "And if what Callista tells us is true, it doesn't make sense for Palpatine to remove her from the mission."

"Right." I waited a moment, then rose and began rustling through a bag. "What if Callista is wrong?" I suggested casually.

"What?"

I turned around, holding night clothes in my hand. Luke was staring at me, eyes narrowed. "What if she's wrong about Diya Rohan?"

A look of realization passed over his face. "But Callista was her friend."

"And Supreme Chancellor Palpatine had the support of the Jedi Council," I said dryly. "Them being friends doesn't mean anything."

"You're right. So what's your theory?"

"My theory," I said as I peeled off my clothes and pulled on a loose night shirt, "is that Diya Rohan was secretly working for Palpatine as a spy in the Jedi Order."

Luke nodded. "Okay. But why send her on Outbound Flight to begin with?"

"Who knows? You're the one who said he's impossible to understand. Maybe he wanted her to spread seeds of discontent, or just to keep watch." I shrugged. "It doesn't really matter."

"I wonder if you knew her," Luke said. "In the Empire, I mean," he quickly added upon seeing the expression on my face. "If she worked for Palpatine—"

"She might have been his first Hand," I finished for him. In the years following my Knighthood, I'd learned that Grand Admiral Thrawn was telling me the truth when he said I wasn't the only one. Luke's suggestion made sense. "If that's the case, I wouldn't have known her. Palpatine kept me far away from the others. The only one I ever saw in person was Lumiya, and that was just in passing."

"Right," Luke muttered. "So we don't even know if Diya Rohan is alive or dead."

"If she was alive, she would've shown her face by now," I pointed out. "Lumiya came after me right away."

"Maybe. Maybe not." Luke waved a hand. "We could go back and forth on this all day. We need to concentrate on the here and now. We still don't know the truth about Jinzler and Hano."

"You're right. Tomorrow we need to focus on getting information from them."

"I agree."

The conversation ended. Luke stripped to his shorts and we climbed into the small bunk. It wasn't luxurious by any means, but it was adequate. I was used to quarters like this.

But even so, I couldn't sleep. The day's events kept passing through my mind, everything we'd learned. But most of all my thoughts lingered on Callista Masana. She had lost everything—her lover and friends—but lived on, becoming a leader for the colony. The younger ones looked up to her example.

Would I be able to do the same? Hadn't I done so already?

But what if I ever lost Luke? Five years ago I wanted him dead and now I couldn't imagine living without him. We were bonded for life. I knew that death was always a possibility, especially in our line of work, but I always discounted it. I believed that if the Force wanted us dead, it would have killed us a long time ago. And now I was pregnant with his child and could not imagine raising this baby on my own. Callista, on the other hand, had been a mother to an entire colony, without Geith at her side.

My hand rose on its own accord to play with the green stone around my neck, a common habit when I was nervous. Luke turned over and wrapped his arm around me. "You okay?"

I burrowed into him, not trusting myself to speak at the moment. Gaining composure, I said, "Promise me you'll never leave us."

He frowned, misinterpreting my statement. "Never. I love you, Mara." He splayed his hand on my belly. "I love you both."

I shook my head, just slightly. "No, I mean—don't _leave_ us. Ever."

Luke bit his lip, understanding what I meant. He could not make such a promise—I knew that, of course—but at the moment, it didn't matter. I needed reassurance.

He nodded, our foreheads touching. "The Force will always be with you, Mara, and so will I."

It was exactly what I needed. I kissed him and pulled him close, and later we fell asleep in each other's arms, safe and content and together.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

"Are you okay?"

It was the third time Luke had asked me that question since venturing off to explore the rest of Outbound Flight. And, for the third time, I nodded and said I was fine.

But I wasn't.

With permission from the Ruling Council, Luke and I went off on our own to visit two of the adjoining dreadnaughts. We really wanted to go to _D-One_, which we thought would contain the most information, but it was above ground and subject to more radiation. The dreadnaughts' hulls provided adequate amounts of protection, but I decided not to risk it. Luke would explore later on, accompanied by Callista and some of the Peacekeepers. As we found out, the colonists were contained to _D-Five_ for safety reasons, and only a few people had ever been down to _D-One_. I wondered what they would find there, and almost felt bad about missing out.

Luke and I explored _D-Four_ and _D-Six_ instead, then took a side trip to the central supply core. The six dreadnaughts were arranged in a circle, connected via turbolift pylons, around a central storage core. The idea was that, if Outbound Flight came upon a planet suitable for colonization, one of the dreadnaughts could break off with an adequate amount of supplies and land there.

I wasn't prepared for seeing the destruction on the other dreadnaughts. _D-Five_ seemed relatively undamaged, as it was where the colonists lived and had the most time to clean up. The other dreadnaughts, on the other hand, were not in such good condition. I'd seen the destruction when we first arrived, but this was much worse. Because the ships were so damaged, it as almost impossible to find bodies. But we still came upon errant skulls and bones, reminding me of the true extent of my former master's depravity. My jaw must have been set the entire trip, for Luke kept his distance, offering mental support and talking little. It was worse when we got to the supply core. I couldn't imagine how much food, water, and other supplies were there, separated into piles for easy retrieval. Enough supplies for 50,000 people. Who Palpatine intended to kill from the very beginning.

When we got into the lift to go back to _D-Five_, Luke finally started asking how I was. I knew he wouldn't stop until I admitted that I wasn't fine, and he knew that I'd never say the words. It was a constant battle between us, and I'd learned over the years to let him win sometimes, as he'd learned to back off until I approached him myself. But perhaps because I was pregnant, or just because of the situation we were in, he wouldn't give up.

He asked me again and my head whipped toward him. I pinned him with a glare. "No, I'm not okay, and I don't want to talk about it, all right?"

Luke blinked. "Well, at least you admitted it."

"Skywalker."

"You can't keep things in, Mara." He glanced at my stomach.

"Oh please. Don't start this again. I'm not going to go into premature labor because I'm upset that I once served an evil megalomaniac."

He wasn't amused. "I'm serious, Mara."

I leaned against the turbolift wall and sighed. The lifts were fast, but it was still a while before we'd get back to _D-Five._ "So am I, Luke. I can't talk about this right now."

Something in my tone of voice must have changed because Luke nodded in understanding and gave up his line of questioning. "Okay."

We fell into a peaceful silence. But once we were almost back to _D-Five_, the turbolift shuddered to a stop.

Luke glanced to me. "Did you touch anything?"

I was standing closest to the lift controls, but my hands had been firmly at my sides for the past several minutes. I shook my head. "No."

Luke came over to examine the controls, and furrowed his brow. He pressed a button but nothing happened. "Are we stuck?"

"I don't know. There's only one way to find out." I removed my lightsaber from my belt and ignited it. I wasn't concerned, as Outbound Flight had been on this planetoid for quite some time and some systems were bound to fail. The previous day Uliar had mentioned how daunting it was to keep a ship the size of _D-Five_ functional. Even turbolifts on Coruscant failed from time to time.

But as I lifted my blade to the ceiling I felt a glimmer of something in the back of my mind, a sensation I'd long learned to associate with danger. "Mara, wait!" Luke exclaimed, but I had already pulled my lightsaber back. Its hum reverberated off the turbolift walls as I stared at the ceiling in curiosity. "We can't go out that way. I think there are cables around the walls."

"Was already there," I told him. "Should we investigate?" If we could remove a piece of the wall without nicking the cables, we might be able to figure out how to hotwire the lift.

"One sec." He turned to the control panel and pressed another button, then shook his head. "Call button isn't working." He pulled his comlink from his belt. "Guess we have to call for help this way."

"Right," I said.

But he didn't have a chance to call for help, because the lift started moving again. But this time it was moving in the opposite direction, going _down_ toward the supply core. Even though the supply core was geographically above _D-Five_, the artificial gravity pulled everyone toward the supply core, functioning as the core of a planet.

And the lift was plummeting much, much too fast.

Luke and I glanced at each other, both trying to remain calm and hide our growing panic, but we both recognized that this wasn't normal. "Something's wrong," I said.

Luke immediately began jamming the stop button on the control panel. His eyes widened. "It won't stop!"

I tried to estimate where we were in relation to the supply core, but my ears were almost popping, we were going so fast. If we didn't do something quick, we would crash into the supply core. I grabbed my lightsaber, ready to cut into the wall and slice the cables, trying for _anything_ that would stop the lift.

Then, in the back of my mind, I felt the telltale sign of Luke reaching out into the Force. Even before our bond in the Force solidified, I'd always been able to sense him better than other Jedi. It wasn't hard to figure out why—he was the most powerful Force user I'd ever encountered. Even more powerful than Palpatine. And as close as we'd become, sensing him reach out into the Force was such an astonishing feeling that I almost had to remind myself to breathe.

The lift stopped.

I froze, not wanting to move and cause the lift to continue dropping. It was completely silent. I chanced a glance at Luke; he was leaning against the wall of the lift, his eyes closed and mouth slightly parted. He looked completely serene, but I could sense the struggle in his mind as he fought to keep the lift stopped. Fought to keep his wife and unborn child from plummeting to their deaths.

"I'll call for help," I told him, even though he probably couldn't even hear me. LaRone was the only person on our mission I truly trusted, so I contacted him. He sounded concerned and said he and the rest of his team would be there immediately. I clicked the comlink back on my belt, relieved.

I moved next to Luke and took his hand. His fingers intertwined with mine, but otherwise he didn't react. He was concentrating too hard.

I leaned my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes, stretching out into the Force. All at once, I felt my mind envelop his and our bond in the Force flared, merging us into one being. Like vines woven together, stronger together than apart. _Let me help_, I whispered to him. But my words weren't necessary as he greedily clung to my Force presence, wanting and needing my strength. All my concentration was on keeping the lift upright, but even still I couldn't help smiling, thinking of how far he'd come. How far we'd _both_ come.

It didn't take long for LaRone to get us out of the elevator. None of the techs on Outbound Flight could figure out how to fix the controls, but they did manage to get the doors open on our car. Then it was up to Luke and me to raise the car to the next level, where we could exit safely. We asked LaRone to keep quiet about the incident, knowing that somebody on our mission had to be responsible. It was time for more investigating.

After leaving the others back at the mess, Luke and I hurried back to the _Chaf Envoy_ and _Jade's Fire_, anxious to check our messages and send another one to Karrde for more information. Somebody had booby-trapped that turbolift, and it was only with the aide of the Force that Luke and I escaped with our lives. I didn't believe for a moment that it had been a freak accident, and if someone like LaRone got in the midst of another act of sabotage, they could die. I hadn't expected something like this to happen when I insisted on coming along with Luke. I could sense that he regretted having me accompany him, but I was relieved that I had.

I felt a twinge of pain in my abdomen as I sat down at the captain's chair, and I rubbed subconsciously. Perhaps Luke was right…perhaps I should have stayed home. But as Luke leaned forward to activate the comm system, I shook my head. No, I belonged here with Luke. I didn't trust anybody else to have his back the way I could. The incident in the turbolift had proved that. We were a team.

Luke first checked our incoming messages, but found nothing. He pressed a few more buttons to send a message to Karrde, and furrowed his brow. He tried again.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I'm not getting a connection."

"Want me to try?"

He gestured to the comm. "Go ahead."

I did so, with the same results. I furrowed my own brow. "That's odd."

"Is it because of the interference in the Redoubt?"

I shook my head. "No, I got through every other time. This is different. It feels like…"

"Feels like what?"

I looked to him. "Like we're being jammed."

Luke shivered. "At least we're not being watched," he mumbled.

"What?"

Luke shook his head. "Nothing; bad memories. Anyway, you're right. We need to get back."

"And talk to Jinzler," I added.

Luke nodded. "Karrde said he was a tech, right? Who else could have sabotaged the lift and been jamming us?"

I made a face. "I don't want to think about that." I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the cockpit. Before leaving the ship we grabbed some more supplies, just in case.

Luke paused as we exited the _Fire_. "Should we warn the others?"

I cocked my head, considering. "I don't know. I still don't entirely trust the Chiss."

"Yeah, but if something else goes wrong…" He trailed off, worrying his lip.

I grabbed his hand. "Then we'll have to make sure nothing else goes wrong. Let's go."

When we got back to Outbound Flight I let Luke take the lead on cornering Jinzler, knowing that my more confrontational nature wouldn't help matters at all. Even still, I had to restrain myself upon seeing him, speaking with Formbi and Fel in the large mess hall as if nothing were wrong. Luke squeezed my hand tighter and I squeezed back, reassuring him that I wasn't about to start yelling at Jinzler in front of the entire group. After all, we didn't know for sure that he'd sabotaged the lift or tried to kill us on the _Chaf Envoy_.

I took a deep breath, trying to assuage my growing anger. It would do me no good.

"Ambassador Jinzler?" Luke placed a hand on Jinzler's shoulder, gaining his attention. "Would you mind speaking to us for a moment?"

Jinzler turned away from the conversation. Any other observer would not have noticed the shift in his emotions, but to a Jedi it was quite clear. He was nervous. But he nodded his assent. "Of course, Master Skywalker." He excused himself and followed Luke out of the room. We wanted to keep the sabotage secret for now, hoping that it might lure the attacker into a false sense of security. I fell into step behind Jinzler, making sure he couldn't flee. Not that he had any place to run, but old habits die hard.

We exited into a wide corridor and cornered Jinzler between us. He glanced back and forth at us, and his expression grew concerned. As if he had something to fear. "Is something the matter?"

Luke raised a brow, then glanced to me. "Mara?"

I held out a datapad. "This is an employment record from my former boss, Talon Karrde. I worked in his organization for a time. I'm not sure if you were aware of that."

Jinzler shook his head slowly. "I was not…"

I couldn't help myself. "Of course you aren't, because if you were you wouldn't pretend to be an Ambassador while on a mission with Karrde's favorite former employee, would you?"

"I…" Jinzler stared at the datapad, swallowing hard. "I was not aware you'd be accompanying us on the trip."

I rolled my eyes. "Amateurs."

Luke glanced at me sharply and I sighed, mentally gesturing for him to continue the line of questioning.

Luke placed his hands on his hips. He rarely looked intimidating, but when he wanted to he did a pretty good job of it. "Is there else anything you want to tell us?"

Jinzler kept his eyes trained on Luke. "No."

I barked out a laugh. "Why do people always lie to Jedi? Do you think you won't get caught or something?"

Jinzler glared at me. "You don't fool me; you're not all powerful."

"No, we're not," Luke said.

"Why do you hate the Jedi?" I demanded, cutting off Luke. He tensed beside me, but didn't interrupt my line of questioning. Apparently he was also curious to hear the answer to that question.

Jinzler continued to stare at me. "Do I need a reason?"

I made a mental note that he hadn't denied hating the Jedi. "When someone's trying to kill us, yes. You do."

Jinzler started in surprise. It was not a reaction one could fake easily. And, from everything I'd observed over the past few days, Jinzler wasn't that good of an actor. "Someone's trying to kill you?"

Luke glanced to me. I let him answer. "Yes. What can you tell us about that?"

"I…you think _I_ was involved?" Jinzler asked, sounded incredulous and offended.

"Yes," I replied. I held up the datapad. "After all, you have the background for such sabotage. Not to mention the motive."

"I…" Jinzler shook his head. "I had nothing to do with this. What exactly happened?"

My eyes narrowed. I could sense that he was telling the truth, that he hadn't been involved with the sabotage. But something was still off about him. "We'll get to that later. First, tell us how you got on this mission in the first place. You're not an ambassador; you're an employee of Talon Karrde's."

Jinzler nodded and sighed. "Yes. I am." He glanced to Luke, almost as if looking for help against the irate pregnant lady, but Luke gestured for him to continue. He sighed again and leaned against the wall of the corridor, looking surprisingly disheveled even in heavy ambassadorial robes. I idly wondered where he'd gotten them. "I intercepted some messages while working at one of his outposts. I noticed the phrase 'Outbound Flight' and had to determine what was going on. Knowing it was the only way to get an invitation, I posed as an ambassador and contacted Aristocra Formbi."

"And just how did you manage to do that?" Luke asked.

Jinzler smiled. "As you said, I have the background, do I not?"

I waved my hand. "We'll get to the technical stuff later. Why'd you want to come aboard, then? You said you didn't know we'd be on this mission, so it's not a vendetta against us."

"It's not. Well, not personally," Jinzler clarified. "I just…I just don't like the Jedi."

"Then why come along?" Luke asked. "What's in it for you?"

Jinzler closed his eyes for a moment, looking sullen. When he opened them, I could see a flash of pain long repressed. "My sister was onboard Outbound Flight."

Luke swallowed. "Oh."

Now I understood Jinzler's reaction when Luke and I first sensed the survivors. Jinzler had hoped that his sister was among them. "And that's why you hate the Jedi? Because they got her killed?"

Jinzler shook his head. "Actually, it's the other way around. My sister was a Jedi."

Luke and I shared a glance. That didn't make sense. If Jinzler's sister was a Jedi, why did he hate the Order so much? But then I realized—Jedi of the Old Republic did not know their families. They committed their lives to the Order, never having families of their own. Callista, being from another sect, was an exception to this. Jinzler had, most likely, never even known his sister.

Luke figured it out just before I did. "You were jealous, weren't you?"

There was a flash of intense anger from Jinzler that he didn't even try to hide. "Do you blame me? She was all my parents could talk about and she didn't even live in our house. I could never live up to her, no matter what I did. Even after following in my father's footsteps."

I rolled my eyes. "That's very mature, Jinzler. But not a good reason to try to kill us."

"I _told_ you, I wasn't involved. I know you can determine whether if I'm lying or not."

"Fine, let's assume you didn't try to kill us and our unborn child," Luke said, emphasizing his last words and the danger one would be in if they tried to do just that. Jinzler glanced at my stomach, looking concerned. "Why are you here, then?"

There was a long pause. "Because I want to pay my respects," Jinzler finally admitted. "I only had one conversation with my sister and for a long time I've regretted the way I acted." He looked to us. "I wanted to tell her I'm sorry, the only way I knew how."

"If you regret your actions, why do you still hate the Jedi?" I asked.

Jinzler ran his fingers through his short, graying hair. "They took her away from the family."

"I can understand that," Luke said after long moments. "But your parents must have consented. And our Order does not operate in the same manner."

"Not yet, at least," Jinzler said bitterly. "Not until you come across some Force sensitive kid and the parents won't let it be trained."

"No," Luke said firmly. "That will not happen."

Jinzler looked Luke up and down. "We'll see."

"Okay," I said, breaking up their little showdown, which in my opinion was quite ironic. "Thank you, Jinzler. Although, in the future, we'd prefer that we keep things open and honest between all of us on the mission."

"Yes." Jinzler's eyes darted back and forth between us. "You said somebody tried to kill you?"

Luke nodded. "Yes. And the communications from our ship are being jammed."

Jinzler's eyes widened. "Who could have done that?"

I cocked an amused brow. "You?"

Jinzler rolled his eyes. "Funny."

"Do you have any guesses?" Luke asked. I was also curious to hear Jinzler's thoughts on the situation.

He paused, lost in thought. Then he nodded. "There's something not right about that Hano woman."

Luke cringed. "Yeah. We thought so, too."

"Can I go now? Or am I under Jedi arrest?"

So the bitterness wasn't entirely gone, then.

Luke nodded toward the doorway. "Thank you for your time." Without another word, Jinzler turned and went back into the mess.

"Well, that was fun," I muttered when LaRone was out of earshot.

"You believe him though, don't you?"

"I didn't sense any treachery from him. He's telling the truth."

"Same here. He still doesn't like us very much."

I shrugged. "I'm used to that. What's our next move?"

Luke shifted his feet, adjusting his position against the wall. "Now we figure out who's trying to kill us."

"So, just another day in the Skywalker household."

Luke made a face. "Right. The Chiss had more of an opportunity to sabotage the banner."

"Yes, but have they had access to Outbound Flight's turbolift system?"

"Possibly. With the exception of the two of us, we've all been down here on _D-Five_ since we arrived. Anybody could have come onboard since then."

"And General Drask isn't exactly fond of the Jedi," I finished for him. "But that doesn't necessarily mean he'd try to kill us. What are our other options?"

"Fel."

I shook my head. "I trust LaRone implicitly, Luke."

"So do I, but that's not what I said. I said Fel."

I bit my lip, thinking. I still didn't know much about Soontir Fel, but what I did know led me to believe that he would never try to kill someone covertly. Fel was big on honor, which meant he'd stare you in the eye while killing you. "You really think he'd be involved in something like this? It doesn't sound like the way he operates at all."

"True," Luke sighed, "and I almost feel like he's family. But there are still too many unknowns when it comes to him and the Empire of the Hand."

"Are you sure this has nothing to do his refusal to contact Wedge?"

Luke sighed again. "Yes, Mara."

I raised a hand. "Just checking. What about Rida Hano?"

Luke cocked a brow. "I know that you've suspected her since day one."

"And now we have another person saying there's something not quite right with her."

"I dunno, Mara. I haven't sensed anything wrong about her."

"Yes, but you haven't spoken to her privately. _I_ have."

Luke ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, so that leaves us Drask, Fel, and Hano as suspects. What's our next move?"

"I think the first thing we should do is talk to Callista. She's a Jedi; she might be able to help us. _And_ she can confirm or deny Jinzler's story."

Luke nodded in agreement. "I'll go get her."

"No, I'll go." I didn't know why I suddenly had the urge to keep Luke away from the mess, but it was there so I listened. I entered the mess…

And stopped short when I saw Callista and Hano, deep in conversation on the far side of the room. Like old friends.

_"What about Diya, then?"_

_Luke and I shared a curious glance. "Diya?" I asked._

_"Diya Rohan. She was a Jedi from Coruscant. Palpatine ordered her to leave with Anakin and Obi-Wan."_

_"I'm sorry, I've never heard of her," Luke said._

_"Oh." Callista looked saddened. "She was a good friend. I was hoping that she had survived." _

I stifled a gasp as I watched them talk, and it hit me.

I rushed back into the corridor, nearly out of breath. Luke caught hold of me and squeezed my shoulders, sensing my anxiety. "What's wrong, Mara?"

I let my head fall against his chest. "I am _so_ stupid!"

"What?"

"How could I not have seen it?"

"Seen what?"

I shook my head in disgust. "Some former spy I am—"

"Mara!" Luke lifted my chin. "What happened?"

I took a deep breath, calming myself. "Do this puzzle in your head, Farmboy. Diya Rohan—Rida Hano."

I could see Luke's mind working furiously behind his brilliant blue eyes, the letters of those two names rearranging into almost perfect anagrams. Then those blue eyes widened in realization. "You're not implying…"

I nodded furiously. "I saw them talking, and it clicked. Diya Rohan _is_ still alive, Luke. She's Rida Hano. And she's come back to finish Palpatine's job."


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

.

.

Luke stared at me as if I'd grown a second head. "You can't be serious, Mara."

"I am! Think about it, Luke. The names are too similar to be a coincidence. Hano is supposed to have lived in the Unknown Regions her entire life, but look at all she knows about us. She knew that Vader was your father, for Force sakes! How could she know that unless she worked for Palpatine?"

"I dunno…"

I suppressed a groan. This was not the time for Luke's farmboy optimism to rear its ugly head. "Okay, then answer me this. How did Rida Hano even know about this mission in the first place?"

He blinked. "I don't know. We never asked that question."

"Exactly! I think there's something going on there. Fel wanted to keep this mission a secret, right? So how did she find out, unless she was eavesdropping on transmissions like Jinzler?"

Luke didn't speak for a long moment. Then he walked past me, peered into the mess, and retreated. When he looked back to me, he nodded. "Okay. But before we confront Hano, I think we need to stick to your plan and talk to Callista first. If Callista's telling the truth and she really was friends with Diya Rohan, she deserves to know our theory. And she can help us decide what to do about Hano. If she really did work for Palpatine, we can't confront her in front of everyone else and put them in danger."

"What if Callista's in on it?" I couldn't help asking.

Luke shook his head. "I don't believe that. Not after our conversation with her about the Purge."

"She did seem genuinely distressed." Even so, I was starting to feel skeptical of everything and everyone, with the exception of Luke and LaRone. Perhaps, though, my ego was a bit bruised for not immediately recognizing that Rida Hano was really Diya Rohan. "I guess we won't find out unless we talk to her."

Luke smirked at me. "You want to go get her again?"

I shoved his arm. "Cute. I'll go."

Not long after, Luke, Callista, and I were back in another private room so we could talk without disruption. Callista looked confused and concerned, sensing that something was gravely wrong. She was the first to speak after we took our seats. "What is the matter?"

Luke remained silent, wanting me to recount my theory. I didn't know whether to be grateful to him for that or be annoyed. Pushing that thought aside, I turned to Callista and adopted a sympathetic expression. "Callista…what do you think of Rida Hano?" I wanted to get her evaluation of the situation before springing my suspicion on her.

"Oh…she seems, um…" Callista's eyes darted back and forth between Luke and me, as if trying to determine our thoughts on the subject. It was typical behavior of somebody not wanting to offend us.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Don't worry, Callista. You won't offend us. She's not our friend."

Callista narrowed her eyes in concern. "But she's with your mission."

"She was already onboard the _Chaf Envoy _when we arrived. We didn't know her before then. In fact, we don't even know how she got invited on the mission."

"Oh." Callista both seemed relieved and worried. "Then I don't feel bad in telling you that she gives me a very bad feeling."

"Of course she does," I drawled. I began to wonder if she would believe us, with her good memories of Diya Rohan warring with her negative feelings about Rida Hano. I remembered those warring feelings quite well. I guess that made me the best possible person to tell her. "Why were you speaking with her, then?"

"She approached me with a question about our colony," Callista explained.

"Did she want to know how to sabotage a lift?"

Callista started in surprise. "You think that she was responsible for that?" She and the leaders of the colony had apologized profusely for the accidents and assured us that the techs were already looking into the cause of the 'accident'.

"You just said she gave you a bad feeling," I reminded her.

"Yes, but that's quite an accusation. And how is that even possible?" She shook her head. "Very few people onboard Outbound Flight are qualified to maintain the lift system. How would she have known how to sabotage it? It's Republic technology and she has lived in the Unknown Regions her entire life."

"Well…" I glanced to Luke. "That may not be entirely accurate."

"What are you talking about?"

Luke sighed. "Callista…Mara and I think we understand why Palpatine took your friend Diya Rohan off Outbound Flight."

Callista looked excited, which made me feel even worse. "You do?"

"Yes. You see, Palpatine fetched Anakin Skywalker because he already wanted him as a future apprentice."

"Okay…"

I squeezed Luke's hand, encouraging him to continue. This would sound much better coming from him. "Well, we think that Diya Rohan was actually an agent for Palpatine."

"What?" The shock rolling off Callista was evident. "That's not possible. She hated him!"

"Yes, so you say—and wouldn't that be the perfect cover for one of his agents?"

Callista collapsed back in her chair, lost in thought. Her jaw was set and she looked determined to fight our argument. "I was her friend. She couldn't have betrayed me like that."

"That's what the dark side does," I said gently. "Everyone thought Palpatine was a good man when he was Chancellor."

"Not everyone," Callista said bitterly. "Diya and I went on many missions together. I can't believe that she would work for Palpatine."

It was silent for a long moment. "There's more," I finally said. Callista stared at me, waiting for me to continue. "I—we—think that Rida Hano is actually Diya Rohan."

For a moment, Callista said nothing. Then she laughed. "You're joking."

Luke cringed. "I'm sorry, Callista."

"That's impossible! I think I would know if that woman were actually my best friend!"

"Callista," Luke said as gently as possible, moving over his chair to place a hand upon her shoulder, "trust me, I know how you feel. But think of this—if Diya Rohan were actually working for Palpatine, wouldn't she be able to hide her presence in the Force? Palpatine was a Sith and nobody knew it."

She shook her head, still refusing to believe. "Luke, I can believe many things. But I just cannot believe that the woman I knew—the woman who ranted about how Palpatine would destroy the galaxy whenever anyone would listen—was actually working for him. And I most definitely cannot believe that _that _woman," she pointed back toward the mess, "is Diya Rohan." She glared at me and shook her head again. "I'm sorry."

She made to stand and Luke glanced at me furtively, unsure of what to do. Callista didn't want to believe, so it was time for some cold logic. "Callista, wait," I said, holding out my hand to stop her. "Will you just listen to what we have to say?"

Her lips pursed as she sat back down and ran a finger over a crack in the old table. "I have been listening, Mara. I listened as you told me that everyone I ever knew in the galaxy is dead. I listened as you told me that Chancellor Palpatine destroyed the Jedi, that he was a Sith Lord, that he ruled the galaxy for over twenty years. Now you're telling me that a woman I called my best friend was actually working for him and I never knew it." A tear came to her eye and she didn't bother to wipe it away. I wanted to reach out and grab her hand, but I knew she wouldn't want that. I'd only known Callista Masana for short amount of time, but she didn't seem like the type of person who'd want to be coddled.

"I understand this is difficult," I said, my voice getting an edge, "but we have to look at the facts. Someone tried to kill me on the _Chaf Envoy_ and someone just tried to kill both of us while we were in that lift. So whoever is out for us _has _to be someone on our mission. Jinzler already told us that he's here to pay respects to his sister."

"Lorana was his sister?" Callista cut in, eyes narrowed.

"That's what he claims."

Callista nodded. "She was one of the ones who went to _D-One_. She gave up her life defending us."

"Okay, so that leaves out Jinzler as a suspect. He's a liar, but not a murderer. Then there's Formbi and Drask."

"General Drask is a Chiss. He would certainly have the means and the motive."

"Yes," I said slowly, knowing that she was right. Drask _would _be the likely suspect to sabotage that banner. And he'd shown us nothing but hostility. But something about that didn't feel right to me. Same when it came to Fel and Formbi. Hano, on the other hand… "You're right. He does seem like a likely suspect. But Rida Hano has rubbed me the wrong way since day one. She knows too much about Luke and me. Something's not right about her, and we're not the only ones who think so."

"Okay, so Hano's your suspect, then. I still don't see why that means she was Diya Rohan."

"Because she knows too much," Luke put in. "I didn't want to believe it, either, but Hano knew that Darth Vader was my father. Hardly anyone in the galaxy knows that, _especially _not people who have supposedly spent their entire lives in the Unknown Regions. She claims to be from a near-human species called the Nephro, and according to a reliable source, the Nephro are extinct. Couple that in with the question of how did she know about this mission in the first place?

"And then there's the fact that Palpatine took Diya Rohan off this mission for no good reason, if what you claim is true. He removed Anakin Skywalker because he'd one day be his apprentice. What if Diya already was? Think of their names, Callista, how similar they are. That can't be a coincidence."

"And," I interjected, trying to appeal to her sense as a Jedi, "…it just feels right."

Callista closed her eyes, remained that way for a long moment, just thinking. Luke and I shared a glance, confirming to each other that, despite her distress, we were doing the right thing by confiding in her. I understood her anger and sadness, but the Force was telling me that this was right.

Finally Callista nodded slowly, opening her eyes. "As much as I don't like it, I have to admit your theory is logical." She bit her lip. "What do you propose to do about this?"

"We can't let her roam around the ship by herself," Luke said. "We'll have to make sure her room is monitored for the evening."

"And then?"

That was the question, wasn't it? How do you confront a person who is potentially a Sith? And if not a true Sith, then at least someone personally trained by Palpatine? I wasn't worried about the actual fight, but there were civilians here who couldn't be put in the middle of that mess. Not to mention the baby. I couldn't go running into battle and hell if I let Luke go off by himself.

My stomach twinged again and subconsciously rubbed it.

"We confront her, somewhere far away from the rest of the colony," Luke said. "Do you know of any place that would work?"

"Yes," Callista said softly. "We'll go to _D-One._" She smirked. "You wanted to explore there anyway, did you not?"

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The next morning we set out bright and early for what had once been the center of the Outbound Flight mission. There had been a rather heated discussion about who would go. Luke did not like the idea of me going up there and fought adamantly against it. I told him there was no way I was letting him confront Hano—or Rohan, whatever you wanted to call her—by himself. There'd been a standoff, then Callista came to my aide and said that, with three of us against Hano, we'd have strength in numbers. Luke was still quite unhappy with the situation but shook his head in submission.

It wasn't hard to get Hano to come along with us. All we had to do was mention that we were going to explore the bridge and she jumped at the opportunity to "learn more about the Jedi that saved her people". It was all I could do not to punch her in the face at that moment. Dissuading the others from coming along was another story, but finally we arranged it so it was just the four us, heading far away from the rest of the colonists.

As we exited the lift that took us to _D-One_, I fingered the two lightsabers hanging from my belt. One was the one I always used—the one I'd constructed after Luke and I were married. The other was the blue blade Luke had given me after the Thrawn crisis. I always traveled with that weapon, even if I didn't always carry it. Call me sentimental, or perhaps suspicious, but I didn't like leaving it behind. Especially on a mission like this.

Callista had donned her Jedi robes for the occasion, and our browns and tans stood out in stark contrast to Rida Hano's dark robes and cloak, her face still carefully concealed against Callista's knowing eyes. Would Callista have recognized her otherwise? Perhaps we'd soon find out.

Everyone was quiet as Callista led us to the bridge. The area was hard to navigate, with debris still scattered across the corridors. I forced myself not to think about what I was seeing, unable to shut down as I did the previous day while exploring the supply core. My emotions could come later. For now, it was time to discover the truth.

We stepped onto the bridge, filled with broken machinery and littered with smashed durasteel. The viewports were dirty but I could see a glimpse of the planetoid outside. There was a chill in the air, the atmosphere musty and old. Slowly we crept our way inside, stepping over the remains of long-dead Jedi. Their lightsabers were long gone and I wondered what Callista had done with them all. Had one of them been Geith's? Callista's jaw was set, having made this journey several times before. I glanced to Luke, his throat tightening with every step, and clasped his hand to offer my strength. He smiled gratefully, then his blue eyes turned to ice, full of determination.

Callista settled down at a computer terminal that was, miraculously, still intact. We stood over her shoulder, watching as she worked. I wasn't sure what she was trying to pull up as she'd previously said that the ship's log hadn't been intact. There would be nothing to prove that the Nephro were or were not present at the battle.

Then Luke spoke. "Are you all right, Ms. Hano?"

The woman nodded. "It is an honor to be here, Master Skywalker. Thank you for letting me join you."

"Our pleasure," I muttered. Hano glanced sharply at me, her gray eyes narrowing just slightly, before turning back to Luke.

She gestured her cowled head toward Callista. "What are you searching for, Jedi Masana?"

"What she's looking for isn't important," Luke said. "It's what _you _can tell us."

"Me?" Hano feigned confusion.

And watching her like this, I became absolutely certain—she'd been Palpatine's. There was no doubt about it. My hackles rose and my hand darted for my lightsaber, ready to take her down. But I made myself wait for Luke to continue his questioning, for his signal to restrain her if necessary. Judging by the look on his face, he was now certain, too.

"Yes, Ms. Hano," Luke said. "We have some questions about the battle with Outbound Flight."

"I told you already, the Nephro left as soon as the Chiss attacked."

I raised an eyebrow. "And how convenient that is for you, isn't it?"

Hano crossed her arms over her chest. "Just what are you insinuating, Jedi Skywalker?"

She was good; I had to hand it to her. But it was time for the charade to end. "I'm not insinuating anything. I am _telling _you that your claim to be part of the Nephro is full of shavit." I felt Luke's warning to calm down, but ignored it. I took out my datapad, Karrde's report already called up. "We know that the Nephro are extinct, Hano."

Her gray eyes widened. "Interesting."

My eyes locked onto hers. "Interesting, indeed."

"Why did you lie to Mara?" Luke interjected. Hano turned her attention to him, an odd expression on her face. "You told her that the Nephro survived that battle. Were you even there? Do the Nephro even exist?"

Hano snorted. "Oh, they existed." Her eyes twinkled and a cold shiver began to run up and down my spine.

I shook it aside. Callista's fingers were still flying across a keypad, trying to bring up something on the computer. A passenger manifest, maybe? If she found Diya Rohan's record, that would be beneficial. "You are not a Nephro, then?"

Hano shook her head and took a step closer to me. "No. I'm not. I'm human…just like you."

She drew out her words, giving me pause, but I moved toward her. "Then why lie? Why are you here?"

"To see the Jedi, of course."

It was still hard to read her—she was human, so she must have been shielding. "Why me? Why us?"

"Oh, Jedi _Skywalker_." She shook her head, closing the distance between us. "I'm disappointed in you."

"Why did you come back?" Luke demanded, his lightsaber gripped tightly in the palm of his hand. He walked slowly toward Hano, attempting to come between the two of us.

Hano turned to him.

"We know who you really are," Luke continued. "You're Diya Rohan. A servant of Palpatine."

Hano nodded. "You're correct about one thing. I did serve Palpatine once. As did _she_."

Luke's jaw clenched and he ignited his lightsaber. "Stand down, then. The game is over."

Hano threw her head back and laughed. "Oh no, Luke. The game has just begun."

It happened so quickly. Hano raised her arms, her heavy robes falling to the floor around her. Her right arm darted to a heavy weapons belt around her waist. She yanked a weapon free and ignited it with a joyful expression.

I couldn't move. My eyes were pinned to her body, finally revealed from beneath those robes. A body covered in black armor. A face full of actual scars, not markings of an alien species as I'd presumed. Red, luscious lips curled into a sneer. Gray eyes, cold as durasteel, but for some reason I knew they weren't really hers. The robes couldn't hide her eyes, after all, so she'd have to change them.

And long hair, as red as mine, pulled severely from her face.

As red as mine.

_Just like me._

We'd been wrong. Rida Hano wasn't Diya Rohan.

She was Lumiya.

And her lightwhip was stretching directly toward my stomach.

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* * *

><p>.<p>

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_A/N: Narrators can sometimes be unreliable._

_Also, regarding the note in the character list about Rida Hano being an OC...well, I'm a huge liar._


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

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For a moment, I couldn't move. All I could do was stare at the lightwhip as it stretched toward my swollen abdomen. It was my nightmare come to life and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Except there was.

My lightsaber was in my hand and ignited in less than a second. I swatted the tendrils of energy away just as Luke jumped in front of me, his own lightsaber blazing. "Get back!" he yelled and I knew better than to argue with him. He ran forward, catching Lumiya's next strike on the tip of his blade.

She grinned at him as if making the acquaintance of an old friend. "So protective, Skywalker. Funny; it didn't bother you very much the last time someone you cared about was shred to pieces." She punctuated her harsh words with quick slashes of her lightwhip, the long, curving tendrils threatening to reach for Callista and me. But Luke kept his lightsaber moving, thwarting her attacks.

Callista was already on her feet, saber in hand. She rushed forward, standing at Luke's side and striking at Lumiya as hard as she could. Lumiya fought both of them while lifting her gaze to stare me in the eye. "Letting a man fight your battles, Jade? You've changed."

I lifted my chin proudly. "Yes. I have." But she was right; I couldn't let Luke and Callista fight Lumiya on their own. I had the Force, and I would use it.

I took a deep breath and reached out into the Force. Lifting my arm, I caught stray pieces of debris in my grip and sent them flying toward Lumiya. She caught them on her lightwhip, slicing them neatly into pieces, and jumped out of the way. She lifted her chin in my direction. "Not bad, Jade. But you could have learned so much more as a Sith."

I knew what she was trying to do. I knew she was trying to goad me, to make me upset and nervous in my already fragile state. She wanted me to do something foolish, something I'd regret later. But I refused to give her that satisfaction. I had already refused her once, when she sought me out to bring me back to the Empire—Ysanne Isard's Empire. That was when my life began to change, and I'd be damned if I let her bring me back to that state of mind. So I ignored her, continuing to call on the Force to rain attacks down on her, while Luke and Callista struck at her with their lightsabers. She continued to dodge and parry their blades, slicing her lightwhip in seemingly nonsensical directions, stealing glances in my direction the entire time.

And then, as the fight raged on, I realized exactly what she was doing. _Luke! She's escaping!_

He caught my thought before I sent it to him and shifted his body to intercept the self-titled Dark Lady of the Sith. She was close to the door now and it began to open, and she backed up to it. I reached out my arm to stop her but the door would not close. I kept trying and trying but she must have sabotaged it, just as she'd done with the banner on the _Chaf Envoy _and the lift. I grimaced as I tried harder to stop her, and finally the door began to close. I felt Luke's strength merge with mine, along with another, newer presence that had to be Callista.

But it didn't matter. Lumiya just flipped through the closing door, landing on her feet on the other side. Her lightwhip retracted through the gap, and she grinned as the door shut in front of her.

Luke rushed to the control panel, jamming it with his fist. He let out a frustrated grunt when, instead of opening, a blast door closed in his face.

By the time we cut through the door, Lumiya was gone. Luke raced ahead, following her Force signature to the lift we took down to the bridge. Of course, that was much too easy. Luke again slammed his fist against the door and muttered a curse. "What is she playing at? There's no way she thinks we'll be trapped down here." He was right, of course. We escaped her trap in the lift and there were many other, still functional lifts, on _D-One_. At least, I hoped there were.

But none of that mattered because, from a distance, we could begin to hear a noise, like metal scraping against the ground. Callista tensed and turned in that direction, grimacing. "Oh no…"

"What?" I asked.

"Droidekas!"

My eyes widened. I'd heard of droidekas, or destroyer droids as they were commonly called—weapons used by the Separatist Army during the Clone Wars. Mobile, shielded, and deadly, they were a Jedi's worst opponents. They were hardly ever destroyed; Jedi usually ran away from their paths. And one was heating in our direction. "Run!" one of us shouted, I don't remember whom, and we were off.

Only to come face to face with another closed and unmoving blast door.

"Luke!" He turned toward my voice and I threw him the extra lightsaber on my belt, the one he'd lost on Cloud City and given me after the Thrawn crisis. He snatched it from the air and whipped around, ready to face the destroyer. Callista joined him and I thrust my lightsaber into the door. I kept my body low to the ground and cringed as my back spasmed. But I had no choice lest I be hit in the body with stray blaster bolt.

After several harrowing moments, my blade cut a hole through the thin blast door. I sighed gratefully, glad that it wasn't the kind of durasteel used on the bridge. I rose, peering through the hole. I needed to get through but I'd need help getting down. I couldn't just jump. "Callista! You go first!"

There was a flash of concern from the woman and she glanced at Luke. He nodded and moved to block all the droideka's blaster bolts, allowing Callista to crawl through the hole. She reached out her arms and grabbed me, pulling me through the hole safely. I landed on my feet and yelled to my husband. "Luke! Come on!"

He was already moving, sprinting toward the door. He dove through the blast door just as a blaster bolt grazed dangerously close to his leg. I pulled him down on the ground next to me and held him tight, releasing all my anxiety from the previous several minutes. He stroked my hair and rubbed my stomach, still fraught with worry even though we were out of immediate danger.

"We have to keep moving," Callista said, her tone regretful. "We don't know what other traps are waiting for us." Luke nodded and pulled me to my feet. We followed her down the corridor, to the closest lift.

Of course, it wasn't working. Callista pulled out her comlink and that wasn't working, either. She frowned. "What now?"

In answer, Luke cut a hole in the elevator doors. "Simple. We have to climb up the pylon."

Callista cringed. "That might be a problem."

Luke and I shared a concerned glance. "And why is that?" I asked.

"Because the lifts do not have any access ladders."

Luke closed his eyes, blew out a breath. "Well, then, that leaves us with one option," I said, my brain going into overdrive.

Luke raised his eyebrows and gave me a look that indicated just how wary he was of my plan. "And what is that?"

I grinned. "We make our own access ladders." I glanced at his arms, ran a finger over his bicep. "You up for it, Master Jedi?"

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The turbolift pylon seemed endless, and all I had to do was cut holes into the wall. Spasms ran up my spine as Luke pulled us up the pylon. But I ignored them, telling myself—and the baby inside of me—that it would all be over soon. I couldn't let Luke get wind of my pain, needing him to concentrate on carrying us. I spared a glance at Luke underneath my shoulders, his face a blank slate. Below him was Callista, her face contorted with exertion. Even though she didn't have a pregnant woman sitting on her shoulders, she was still a sixty-five year old woman and nowhere near as physically strong as my husband, or me for that matter. I'd suggested that Luke carry Callista and she cut into the wall, but Luke would have none of that. I think he felt better carrying the responsibility for our safety—literally—on his shoulder. "You okay, Callista?" I called to the other woman.

It was the fourth or fifth time I'd asked that question. She merely nodded, focusing on the Force to augment her strength. "What about you?" I asked, turning my attention to my husband. Sweat dripped down his brow but he didn't complain, merely grunted with the effort of pulling both of us up to the next cut in the wall. Then it was my turn again, and I sliced my lightsaber into the wall with a steady hand, creating a handhold. Up and up we went, determined to get back to _D-Five _and defend the others from Lumiya. "I guess I can't ever complain that you never carried this baby," I whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.

Luke's shoulder's tensed and his eyes darted up to mine. "Shh. Don't make me laugh."

"Sorry."

We climbed a few more meters. I tried to send some of my strength to both of them, to assuage the guilt at the effort they were expending. "So who was that?" Callista finally said.

I decided to answer for Luke. "Her name is Lumiya. She was a servant of Palpatine. Later she became a Sith."

"A Sith? But I thought you said that the Sith were destroyed?"

"Yeah, well. Apparently Lumiya decided she didn't want to miss out on all the fun."

"What does she want?"

"To kill us."

"Ah." I sensed Callista's amusement. "That seems rather obvious. What did you do to make her so angry?"

I glanced down to the other woman and smiled at her. "Well, let's see. Luke broke her heart and body. I refused to join her and gave her a beating she'll never forget."

"Perhaps you should start from the beginning."

Why not? We had nothing better to do while climbing up the pylon. "Back in the Rebellion, Luke knew a pilot named Shira Brie. They were…close, you could say." Luke gave me a nudge in the Force, and I grinned. "Anyway, during a mission Luke's sensors went out in his X-wing and he had to rely on the Force to detect the enemy. He shot down Shira. He thought that the Force had let him down and was almost ostracized from the Alliance.

"But in reality, Shira was an Imperial spy, sent by Darth Vader to discredit Luke and cause him to leave the Alliance. She was picked up by the Imperials and they fixed her up, you could say. Vader presented her to the Emperor and she became one of his Hands."

"Oh." Callista paused. "How do you know this?"

I blew out a breath. Callista knew that I hadn't always been a Jedi, but I hadn't been completely honest about my past. I thought that I'd eradicated all my demons back on Nirauan, but it seemed that I hadn't. I rubbed my stomach subconsciously. "I know because I was there."

Callista's surprise was evident. "How is that possible?"

I didn't answer for a moment, turning my attention back to carving out another handhold. "Because I used to serve Palpatine," I said. "I was one of the Emperor's Hands."

"…Oh."

"Back then I thought I was the only one. I only passed Lumiya as I was leaving the Emperor's throne room and thought she was just another lackey, just another assassin. A few years ago I learned that there had been more than one Hand, that my position hadn't been special after all." I paused as the old feelings surged back, threatening to overtake me. I remembered feeling ashamed at my reaction, angry with myself for caring what the Emperor thought about me. I remembered Luke consoling me, telling me it was all right, that Palpatine had raised me and I'd be inhuman if I didn't care what he thought. But I thought I was past that.

"I fought Shira twice," Luke cut in, "after she became Lumiya. And after the Emperor died, she was sent to bring Mara back to Imperial Center, to serve the Empire again, but the fight ended in a stalemate. I guess you could say that we bruised her ego a bit."

"How did you come to be a Jedi?" Callista asked me.

"Well," I said, smile growing across my face, "that's a rather long story. Suffice it to say that I ended up fighting _with_Luke instead of killing him." I looked down at my husband's face and patted his cheek. "Best decision I ever made."

Luke glanced up and grinned at me.

"But why would Lumiya come back now? Didn't the Emperor die ten years ago?"

Ten years. I hadn't even thought of that. A significant milestone, coupled with my being pregnant…was this the Force at work? Hadn't the Force already done enough in my life? I rolled my eyes. "Yes. She must have gone into hiding after our duel. Learned more about the Sith."

"So why now?" Callista asked again.

"That's the question of the day," Luke answered. "Perhaps she learned about the academy and the growing numbers of Jedi. Perhaps she just wanted revenge."

"Or perhaps she learned I was pregnant," I added, saying what Luke would never even consider.

"We haven't told anyone about that," Luke said.

"Not publicly. But she could have ways of finding out." I shrugged my shoulders and made another cut in the wall. "It doesn't really matter _why _she's here. We just have to stop her, whatever her plans are."

"We don't even know _how _she got here," Luke pointed out. "How did she know about the mission?"

"That's a good question," I said, my suspicious mind going into overdrive. Perhaps Drask was worth our suspicion after all…

"If she served Palpatine, that would explain how she was able to sabotage the lift," Callista said. "Not to mention the bridge."

"Yes, she might have had access to the Outbound Flight manuals while she served Palpatine," I agreed.

We grew quiet again. We'd been climbing for a long time and finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel—or rather, the end of the pylon. I grinned and ruffled Luke's hair. "Just a few more minutes."

He inhaled and exhaled deeply, then glanced up at me and smiled. His smile seemed to say, "it's going to be all right."

I wanted to believe him, but time and circumstance had told me that wouldn't be the case.

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I was right.

We had exited the pylon on another dreadnaught and, thankfully, found the turbolifts working. Callista punched in the code that would bring us to _D-Five_. Our comlinks were still being jammed and nobody answered the call button in the lift.

We knew that things were bad as soon as we exited the lift and touched ground on _D-Five_. The power was flickering and it was quiet, too quiet. I stretched out into the Force to find all the colonists, and nearly gasped. Because there were many more beings onboard _D-Five _than when we'd left.

Lumiya had brought reinforcements.

I didn't have time to ponder the hows or whys. The three of us took off down the corridor without saying a word. Luke and Callista were still exhausted from the climb but they didn't complain, merely ignited their lightsabers and took off toward the fight. I followed them, feeling a strange mix of protectiveness toward my baby and desire to fight against this woman who threatened us.

We ran until we got back to the corridor that led to the main council chambers. We could hear the blaster fire from meters away, heightening our worry.

The Outbound Flight colonists and our group were caught in crossfire between strange aliens I'd never seen before. With them were vicious looking animals that were not being taken down by blaster fire. Luke immediately jumped into the fray and sliced the animals in half, reducing the attack. The aliens kept shooting, undeterred by our arrival.

All of a sudden my stomach lurched and tightened. I placed a hand on my abdomen, expecting it to be like all the other tiny twinges I'd felt during my pregnancy. Gas, cramps, pure hunger—all the things my friends had warned me about.

But this was different. This pain didn't go away. My uterus kept clenching I had to bend over, gasping for air. I pushed through it, knowing I couldn't stop fighting or else I'd be dead. So my lightsaber moved on auto-pilot, blocking blaster shots as I moved to the side of the corridor, trying to get away from the fight.

I don't remember what happened next in the battle. We must have pushed back the strange aliens because the fighting stopped and I heard voices—human voices—calling to one another. I staggered inside the council chambers and then I couldn't take it any longer. I collapsed against the wall and slid down, biting my lip against the pain. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong and I had no idea how to stop it. I had never felt so helpless in my entire life.

The back spasms weren't just an effect from climbing up the pylon. They were contractions.

I knew it was true, but couldn't believe it. I was only four months pregnant. Babies didn't come until forty weeks. Even I knew that. But there I was, lying against the wall of a strange ship, having contractions.

I heard Luke's voice in my head, telling me not to go on the mission. Worrying about something happening to me and there being no medics to assist me. Asking me to stay behind with the others instead of going to _D-One_.

Three years ago, I'd almost killed us both because I was too proud to listen to him. Too proud to give up on my quest for redemption and ask for help from others. For the past four months I'd been trying to pretend that nothing had really changed in my life. So a baby was growing inside me. That didn't mean I had to change my lifestyle. I could still be as active as before. I was barely showing, after all.

Now, instead of putting Luke in danger, I'd put our baby in danger. Our baby boy.

I heard Luke's voice again, this time in my ear, not a memory. He was frantic, calling my name and asking me what was wrong. Tears were in his eyes and it made me feel even worse. My husband was crying and I couldn't even shed a tear.

"I don't know," I told him, holding my stomach as another contraction ripped through my body. My throat clenched and I couldn't say anything else. I tried to reach out into the Force, but that didn't help.

I heard another voice next to me, telling Luke to back away. Then Callista was there, staring at me intently. "Mara, what is wrong?"

"I don't know," I said again. "I don't know what's wrong…" I trailed off, unable to speak.

Callista's eyes darted to my stomach. "Mara, are you having contractions?"

I nodded, head turned away so I didn't have to see Luke's face, so worried and upset.

"Okay." Callista sounded very matter-of-fact, not worried at all. "Mara, listen to me. I need you to breathe deeply, in and out. Understand?"

I nodded. I could do that.

She whispered something to Luke, then place an object in my hands. "I need you to sip this, very slowly, okay?" I placed the object to my lips. It was a water bottle. I nodded again and tilted my head back, allowing some of the liquid to trickle down my throat. "Slowly, Mara. You don't want to shock your system."

"What's wrong with her?" Luke demanded, his voice still shaky.

"You are dehydrated," Callista said, addressing me instead of Luke. She didn't want to talk about me as if I wasn't there, and I decided then that I truly liked her. "It happens to many pregnant women. The stress of the battle must have triggered this attack, especially if you haven't been drinking enough water."

I cringed, remembering her advice to stay hydrated and subsequently brushing her off. "I'll be okay?" I gasped out in between sips of water.

Callista nodded. "It's very common. They're not true contractions, just spasms. I've seen it happen with several pregnant women on Outbound Flight and they all went on to deliver healthy babies. You just need to drink right now. Okay?" I didn't answer, just continued sipping slowly. My stomach was still clenching but I was calmer now, which eased the pain. "Just lean back and relax."

"Does she need medical attention?" Luke asked.

"If it continues, yes. But you're early enough in the pregnancy that just drinking water should ease the pain. Make sure you hold her feet up." She patted my arm, gave me a warm smile. "I'll leave you two alone." She rose and walked away, talking with Fel and Formbi, getting information about the battle most likely.

Luke didn't move, however. He remained kneeling at my side, holding my arm in one hand and stroking my hair with the other. "Don't leave," I told him, feeling weak and vulnerable. I hated feeling this way. I was supposed to feel strong, able to protect my baby. I was always strong. It was one of the reasons my pregnancy didn't faze me. I could protect myself, and therefore I could protect a child in my womb.

But apparently, something as simple as not drinking enough water could keep me from doing just that.

He smiled at me. "I told you; I'll never leave you." He moved his legs under mine so my feet were raised in the air, and I felt his comforting Force presence reach out to mine. His hand continued to caress my arm.

We stayed that way for a long time.


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

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Luke remained with me as the chaos died down, not even moving except to adjust my feet and rub circles on my back. Eventually the pain in my stomach subsided but I was still afraid to move lest I cause even more contractions. Callista had said that these types of contractions were normal among pregnant women, but I didn't care. I'd been struggling to remain normal during my pregnancy, but now I realized that my definition of normal had completely shifted. And it did _not _include having contractions.

The leaders of the colony, Fel, and Formbi separated themselves from everyone else in the council chambers, talking animatedly. I could hear bits and pieces of their conversation and noticed Luke straining to hear them. "Go find out what they're talking about," I told him, earning an incredulous expression.

He remained firmly in place. "I'm not leaving you."

I rolled my eyes and shoved his arm. "I'm going to be fine. I feel better already. Now go, I wanna know what they're saying."

Luke gave me a smile that he'd come to perfect; it was a smile that said, "Whatever you want, dear." He stood and left, joining the others' conversation. They did not seem very pleased to see him but kept talking regardless.

I remained seated against the wall, still too nervous to move, one hand keeping the water to my lips and the other absently playing with the chain at my neck. Seeing that I was alone, Callista joined me, leaning against the wall with her legs crossed underneath her. "How are you feeling?"

I smiled gratefully at her. "Much better. Thank you so much. I don't know what I'd have done with you."

"You would have been fine," Callista assured me, a note of odd sadness in her eyes. "You're a strong woman. It'll take much more than false contractions to bring you down."

I chuckled. "Or a crazy Sith woman."

"That, too." She paused. "Are you okay with…seeing her again?"

"Lumiya?" I shrugged. "I always knew she wasn't dead, that she'd come back into my life eventually. Once I found out Luke had a past with her as well—and _that _was quite the fun conversation…it was inevitable, I guess. I'm more worried for him, though. He cared for Shira once, and it was difficult for him to fight her. But now, after she's threatened us, and our baby…" I shook my head. "I know that nothing can truly push him to his breaking point, but I also know that Lumiya will do everything she can to do just that. Just for revenge."

Callista smiled and turned away. "He seems very special."

I followed her gaze. She was looking at Luke with an odd expression on her face. "He _is_special. He gave me a second chance, and never judged me, even after knowing all my darkest fears and secrets. I've never known anyone like him."

"I know the feeling. He reminds me of Geith."

I nodded, remembering what she'd told us of her former lover, how he'd given his life to protect the people on Outbound Flight. How many times had Luke risked his life to save others he didn't even know? "Vader brought took Luke to the Death Star to confront the Emperor, completely alone. Knowing what I did about Vader and Palpatine, I still can't comprehend how he survived that. I'm not sure if I ever will."

I grew quiet, and she pointed to my necklace, still being twisted around my fingers. "Did he give that to you?"

I smiled again, remembering that night, etched into my mind forever. "Yes." I pulled the chain away from my neck, showing her the green stone that was surrounded by my rings.

She reached out a finger to gently touch the stone. "It's beautiful. They're all beautiful."

"I hate wearing them on missions," I explained. "He made this one from a lightsaber crystal." I held up the engagement ring, rolling my eyes at the complete sentimentality of the gesture, so Luke. "And on our wedding night he gave me the rest of the crystal, saying that it was time for me to build my own lightsaber."

"And the other you carry?"

I gestured to Luke. "It used to be his. He gave that to me, too. I used it during my training. It had once belonged to Anakin Skywalker."

Callista's eyes widened. "Wow."

"Yeah. I worked with Vader when I was in the Empire, of course. We had a pretty contemptuous relationship. Palpatine didn't want any possibility of us getting along. The irony of me now being with Luke always makes me laugh."

"I can imagine." Her eyes flashed in pain then, and she dropped the necklace. "I found Geith's lightsaber, among the wreckage, but could never bring myself to use it. Too many memories, I guess."

I reached out to clasp the other woman's arm. "I'm sorry." The words felt hollow and empty, but they were all I could give her.

"It is okay." She placed a hand over her heart. "I remember."

We fell silent, and I could hear the conversation on the other side of the council chambers grow heated. To an outside observer Luke was the epitome of calm, but I knew better. He was angry—very angry. That, combined with my urge to fight overriding my fear, finally got me moving. So with Callista's help I joined the others and set out to figure out what the hell had just happened on Outbound Flight.

"What's going on?" I asked once I'd settled into a chair around the table where they were seated.

Luke turned to me and put on a fake smile. "Nothing. Are you feeling okay?"

I looked at him with raised eyebrows, feeling like my old self as annoyance about his concern for me rose to the surface. "I'm _fine_. Why are you yelling?"

"I'm not yelling!" he countered, voice raised slightly. Then he sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Okay, maybe I am."

I turned to Fel, who was trying his best to avoid my gaze. "Fel?"

He looked back at me with a chagrined expression. "We were just discussing how exactly Rida Hano came to be on our mission."

"And Soontir here was just explaining that _they invited her along_," Luke interjected. His eyes were blazing and his teeth were clenched. "And her name isn't Rida Hano; it's Lumiya. She's a Sith."

Fel's eyes widened. "A Sith? You mean like Vader?"

There was a noticeable shift in Luke's Force sense, but his face remained stony. "Yes. Like Vader." Most of the galaxy had no idea what a Sith truly was; all they knew was that Palpatine and Vader wreaked havoc on the galaxy. Hell, until the end of the war the galaxy at large wasn't even aware that Palpatine was actually the Sith Lord Darth Sides. "And you invited her on this mission with my pregnant wife." He growled the words, so unlike the stoic Jedi most people thought of when they conjured up images of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.

Fel, however, wasn't threatened. "Do you think I would have done so if I'd known who she really was? I didn't even want Mara to come along once I noticed her condition, but by then it was too late."

"So you knew the mission would be dangerous from the beginning, and didn't warn us?"

"No! We had no idea that Rida Hano—Lumiya—posed any serious threat."

"Why would you want to send Mara away if the mission wasn't dangerous?"

"Excuse me!" I cut in, raising my voice above the others. "Don't talk about me like I'm not here. Now, how exactly did you come to invite Lumiya on this mission?"

LaRone slowly raised his hand. "I think I can answer that question." Fel glanced at him sharply but was ignored. "We rescued her, you see."

"You _rescued _rescued a Sith?"

"We didn't know who she was. My team was in the Unknown Regions, doing a normal reconnaissance sweep. We came upon her ship, being attacked by what we later learned were the Vagaari. We neutralized the attackers but her ship was damaged beyond repair. We took her onboard ours and she told us who she was and that she knew the location of the Outbound Flight wreckage."

"Wait a minute." Luke's voice was growing more incredulous by the second. "Are you telling me that you never even found a distress signal from Outbound Flight? That we came here only on Lumiya's word?"

Callista furrowed her brow. "Distress signal? We never sent any distress signal." She looked to Uliar and the other colony leaders, who confirmed her statement.

Luke looked like he wanted to jump over the table and punch Fel in the face. "Why in the galaxy would you follow a strange woman's directions to the Outbound Flight wreckage? Why in star's name would you not send your own team—_alone_—to check it out first?"

"Because we asked them not to," Formbi said, so softly that the rest of the table had to quiet down to hear him. Nobody responded, merely remained quiet so he could finish explaining. "We were hoping that, with secrecy and minimal exposure, we would avoid further attacks by the Vagaari."

"You're lying," I said. The entire table turned to look at me, Formbi included, but he did not refute my words. "If you wanted to keep the mission a secret, you would not have sent a message through Karrde to get to us. You would have talked to us in person. Jinzler managed to stumble upon the message and invite himself along. Did you not stop to wonder how he managed to be here?"

"He informed us that he was a diplomat from the New Republic. We assumed that you had invited him."

"Fel told us not to tell anyone where we were going." I shook my head. "No, something doesn't add up here."

For a long moment, Formbi didn't speak. Then he let out a heavy sigh. "We were hoping to lure the Vagaari into attacking us."

_"What?" _That time I really did have to restrain Luke from leaping over the table, but he quickly reigned in his emotions, at least visibly. "And just what did you hope to accomplish by doing that, Aristocra?"

"It's Chiss doctrine, Luke," I said. "Remember what we learned about Thrawn? No preemptive strikes."

"You can only defend yourself once attacked," Luke finished. He shook his head in disbelief. "And what did you think would happen when you lured them here?"

"You must understand, Master Skywalker. The Vagaari have been a nuisance in and around Chiss space for many years. Luring them into an attack is the only way to forever eliminate their threat."

"And you can do that on your own time! You've not only endangered the mission, but the entire colony." To emphasize his point, the power began to flicker. I glanced around, wondering what was going on, and why we were still in this room instead of getting the hell out of here. Luke let out a harsh laugh. "Is that why you've been trying to kill us? Because you knew Mara and I would disagree with your plan?"

"No!" Formbi shouted, offended. "We had nothing to do with that."

"No?" Luke glanced at General Drask.

Formbi followed his gaze. The general shook his head. "I disapproved of this mission from the beginning. I did not agree in involving non-Chiss in our affairs."

So the Chiss general didn't hate us, after all; he didn't want us there because the entire mission went against the Chiss moral code. I nodded at him, showing my approval, however valued it may be. Drask nodded back.

"Why did you invite us at all?" Luke asked Fel. "That's what I don't understand. What's our part in all of this?"

"I was being truthful when I contacted you," Fel said. "This was a Jedi mission. The Chiss wanted Jedi to be involved."

"Of course they did," Luke growled. "To fight for you, not to mention sense any deception when it came to Lumiya."

Fel didn't even blink. "Possibly. Did you?"

"Possibly."

"And _you_ did not warn _us _of that fact?"

Luke regarded Fel for a long moment. "We were unsure of who to trust."

"Well, we're all in this together now, whether we like it or not."

Luke nodded slowly. "And how do you intend to get us out of this mess?"

Fel's gave a rueful smile. "I was hoping that the Jedi might determine how to fix that dilemma."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Of course. Forgive me if I don't seem amused." He glanced at my stomach.

I threw my arms in the air. "I'm going to be sick from all this testosterone flying around here." I turned to my husband, eyes narrowing in annoyance. "Look, I want to punch him as much as you do, but that won't solve anything. He's right—we're in this together. Now, how do we get out of this?" I glanced around the table, searching for answers, but nobody would meet my eye. "This is ridiculous." I rose from my chair and made my way toward the door.

Luke was on his feet in an instant. "Where are you going?"

I threw him a cool glance over my shoulder. "To get some answers from the only person who can give them to us." And with that I continued walking, exiting the council chambers and entering the corridor, littered with the strange aliens called the Vagaari. I slowly bent down next to one, grabbed the comlink from his belt, and, after a few seconds of inspection, thumbed it on. "Hello, Lumiya."

For a moment, there was nothing but silence. I sensed Luke coming into the hallway behind me, followed by Callista. Catching wind of my idea, she retrieved another comlink and threw it to Uliar, still sitting around the table. Just as his hands snatched the small object a burst of static emitted from the one clasped between my fingers. I brought it to my lips again. "I know you can hear me, Lumiya. Why don't you come on out and say hello?"

"Mara Jade." The voice from the other end was smooth and silky, with more than a slight edge of disgust. "Or, should I say Mara Jade _Skywalker._I take it you survived my little trap?"

"Yeah, and you shouldn't be surprised," I snapped back, my voice hard. A million thoughts flew through my mind in that moment—passing by Lumiya as she was presented to the Emperor; her advancing on me on Caprioril; losing my lightsaber but refusing to back down to her; her black armor disappearing as she retreated from the losing battle. I saw events that I'd never lived—Luke and Shira laughing together onboard some Rebel ship; a stolen kiss; the terror he felt when he learned that he shot down a friend; the confusion and betrayal he'd experienced upon realizing that Shira had been a spy all along. I felt the regret he felt upon fighting her, how her eyes narrowed with lethal intent. Just like me, she had been set on killing him. She had no chance of beating him, of course, but that didn't stop her from trying. Even if it took her ten years to lay the perfect trap.

_YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER!_

I shook myself, forehead creasing as that damn voice once again took over my thoughts. But while this was the same voice I'd heard for five long years, it was not entirely the same. This was _Lumiya_'s last command, not mine, even though it was exactly the same.

A twinge in my abdomen got me talking again. I smiled, imagining the baby inside of me telling me to "get on with it already."

After all, Lumiya weren't _exactly _the same.

"Spare us the Sith monologuing," I told her. "Just tell us what you want and I'm sure we can find a way to let these innocent civilians leave in one piece."

Lumiya barked a laugh. "You really _have _been spending too much time with Skywalker, haven't you? Oh no, my dear Jedi. Nobody on that ship will be surviving, I'm afraid."

"And just where do you plan on going?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. That's why I asked."

"You're adorable." I could hear the smile in her voice. "Our master did indeed teach you well. It's too bad you wouldn't come with me to Isard. None of this would ever have had to happen."

"Isard wasn't fit to lick Palpatine's boot," I snarled. "And neither are you. I would never have come with you."

"Feisty. You better calm down; you don't want to harm the baby."

That did it. Luke grabbed the comlink from my hand. "What do you want, Lumiya?"

"Well, if it isn't the Jedi Master himself! Hello, Luke. It's been a long time."

"What do you _want_?"

"I want you dead," she said simply. "Along with your wife, your child, and everybody else on that Force-forsaken ship." She paused. "Does that answer your question?"

"But why?" I said. I knew what Lumiya was—a Sith. I knew what Sith were, what they did. Palpatine hadn't thought twice about killing fifty thousand innocent beings. Why would Lumiya care about killing a couple hundred? Besides, she had the strongest motivator of all—revenge. But still, I had to ask, "What's in it for you?"

"Oh, Mara," she said, and I could hear the pain in her voice. Surprisingly, it was genuine. And there was not only pain there, but also disappointment. "You still don't understand."

"Don't understand _what_?"

"I suppose I can't blame you. After all, he never taught you the way he taught me. As a Sith."

"And I thank the Force for that every day."

Lumiya scoffed. "I suppose you do. Not that the Force will help you now." At that moment the lights flickered again, staying off even longer than before. "But now we must be going."

"Wait!" Luke yelled, but the comlink had already gone dead. He stared at it blankly for a while before letting it drop from his hand. He grabbed my arm and guided me back into the council chambers, helping me into the chair next to his before running a hand through his hair. The others at the table looked as worried as he felt.

"One of the dreadnaughts is nearly capable of flight," Callista said. "Can we escape with that?"

Uliar shook his head. "No. They took it. It must have been more powerful than their own ship."

"We still have the _Chaf Envoy,_" Formbi said.

Drask quickly squashed those hopes. "They're not answering our hails."

Formbi swallowed. "Oh."

"How did the Vagaari get here?" I asked suddenly. "There wasn't enough space on Lumiya's shuttle to fit that many warriors onboard."

"They must have followed her—us—with their own ship," Luke answered. "Then took the dreadnaught because it was more powerful."

"That's impossible!" Formbi scoffed. "We scanned the entire ship before our departure and every time we dropped from hyperspace. _Nobody _could have followed us into the Redoubt."

"Are you sure about that? How do you know what type of technology the Vagaari have? And how else could they have gotten here? And besides," Luke added, "Fel said it earlier—Lumiya herself provided the coordinates to Outbound Flight. She was leading us into a trap from the beginning." His hands clenched into fists before slowly releasing.

Just then, the power went off completely.

The emergency power kicked in immediately, casting a dull glow around the room. "How are they doing this?" Callista asked. Her voice was full of concern but she acted as a Jedi, not letting herself fall into despair, concentrating only on a solution.

"Conduit worms," Jinzler spoke up. He'd been quiet throughout the conversation, observing rather than speaking. "At least, that's what I imagine."

"Right," Luke said. "Can you figure something out?"

"I can lure out the conduit worms with a simple salt solution. But if they brought enough conduit worms along to disable a ship like this…" He trailed off, his insinuation obvious—it would take longer than we had to destroy them all.

"The trap," I said suddenly. "In the turbolift. Could that have been caused by conduit worms?"

Jinzler furrowed his brow. "Possibly."

I blew out a breath. Lumiya had put both time _and _effort into this plan. And now there was nothing left to do but figure out a way to get out of there before everything on this ship was dead.

"We have to get back to the _Chaf Envoy_," Formbi declared. "It's our only way out. Even if the ship was disabled, we have a chance of fixing enough systems to send out a distress signal—"

He continued speaking but I no longer heard him, hanging on to his last two words. Something about the, spoke to me, but I couldn't figure out what…

"—Besides, your ship is there," Formbi continued, looking to Luke and me. "Perhaps it's still useful."

"It better be useful, or Mara will have their heads when we get out of here—"

And then I realized just how useful the _Jade's Fire _still was.

The Vagaari might not have followed us into the Redoubt. But somebody else _did_. And I could sense it now, as clearly as I sensed Luke beside me.

"_Sithspit!_" I yelled out. I grabbed Luke's hand, not giving him a chance to speak. "Hurry, _now_!" I pulled him away from the table, racing into the corridor as fast as I dared.

And there, at the far end of the corridor, was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen.

Talon Karrde stepped forward over the dead bodies and brushed dust off his otherwise polished jacked. Behind him were a crowd of Jedi, but the only ones I truly saw were Corran and Tyria, my two best friends from the Jedi Academy, standing there with lightsabers blazing.

Karrde glanced around at the aliens strewn around the corridor, then looked at the dimmed lights. His focus shifted to my stomach and even though his eyes shone with relief, he still couldn't help grinning. "So Mara, tell me. Does _this_ relieve me of my baby-sitting duties?"


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: My apologies for the huge delay in posting this chapter. I have been waiting for the TFN forums to come back up after moving before continuing posting, but considering there's no end date in sight for the move, I decided to go ahead and post here. The story is finished so I will make regular updates from now. Enjoy! _

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CHAPTER 12

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I raced forward and threw my arms around Karrde's neck, then pulled back from the hug to smack him on the chest. "It's your fault we're here, so yes, you're still baby-sitting!" But my smile broke through my anger as I pulled him to me again. "I don't think I've ever been so happy to see your face."

He chuckled, a low rumble shaking against my body. "Same here, Mara." After a moment we broke apart fully, allowing him to greet Luke while I turned my attention to the rest of our rescue party. Along with Corran and Tyria, I saw other Jedi from the Academy: Keyan, Kenth, Kirana Ti, Kyle, Kyp, Cray, Nichos, Saba, Tresina, and Jem. "You really brought in the cavalry, didn't you?" I said to Corran, giving a low whistle.

My Corellian "brother" smirked. "Somebody's gotta look out for you, Mara."

"Right," I snorted. "How did you all fit on the _Wild Karrde_?"

"We didn't take the _Wild Karrde_," Tyria said.

"You didn't?"

"No," she grinned, "we brought something bigger."

I grinned back. "Let me guess. Booster?"

Corran shrugged. "Hey, when your father-in-law keeps threatening you, saying that he owns a Star Destroyer…sometimes you just gotta go with it."

I shook my head. "Remind me to thank your wife later on."

"Mirax already said that you owe her a drink—after the baby comes, of course."

"Of course."

A throat cleared behind me. I turned around to see Fel, Uliar, and Formbi gazing at the Jedi with both relieved and worried looks. Callista appeared from behind them, and her eyes brightened at seeing more of her old comrades. "Why don't we go inside and figure out what's going on?"

Following her suggestion, we went back into the conference room. Karrde took my seat at the conference table, while I remained off to the side with Corran and Tyria. I kept looking around at the other Jedi, tending to some of the wounded and fielding questions from children. The entire colony had gathered in the large room, eagerly anticipating a rescue by the Jedi, the people who had saved them from destruction once before.

Quickly, Karrde explained how the rescue had come together. After Karrde sent us the information about Jinzler and Hano, he continued to pursue his various leads. But later, when he to contact us for more information and to get an update on our progress, all communication to the _Jade's Fire _was jammed . He grew worried, knowing that anything that could jam communications from my ship had to be very dangerous indeed. After several days with no contact, he decided to risk my potential ire and come after us.

Formbi did not seem relieved or appreciative of the rescue party. His brow remained furrowed in concern. "And how exactly did you manage to follow the _Chaf Envoy _into the Redoubt?"

"We didn't follow the _Chaf Envoy_," Karrde answered. "We followed Mara's ship."

"The _Jade's Fire_?"

Karrde nodded. "You think I would let my best employee fly a ship that didn't have the best homing beacon a slicer could install?"

"Flattery won't get you out of baby-sitting, Karrde."

Formbi ignored my attempt at humor and remained incredulous. "You had a homing beacon active during our trip?"

I didn't blink. "I did."

"That is impossible! We scanned the _Chaf Envoy _every time we dropped from hyperspace. We picked up no electronic transmissions!"

"Of course you did," I said, "but you didn't take into account the fact that the best slicer in the New Republic installed my homing beacon. See, my homing beacon only activates when our signals are jammed. And it's undetectable by outside forces."

Fel shook his head. "And you blamed _us _for bringing Lumiya along on this mission?"

"Hey, our homing beacon saved all our lives! I think we can save the posturing for later, okay?"

Fel did not look pleased, but he remained quiet. "What do we do now?" Luke asked. "The _Errant Venture _has more than enough space to house the colonists until we can find a more permanent solution."

"You are forcing us to leave, Master Skywalker?" asked Uliar.

"Not _forced_. You heard what Jinzler said before—the ship will die soon, sooner than we can get it repaired. You can't stay here any longer."

The colony leaders shared a glance. "We all agreed to join Outbound Flight because we no longer wished to be part of the Republic," said Uliar. "This has been our home for over forty years. Where do we go from here?"

Luke swallowed. "I don't know the answer to that question. But I'm sure the New Republic will help you find a new home."

"And if we want to return here, after repairs have been made?"

"You can't," Formbi said. "This is Chiss territory."

"And now, after we've been here completely undetected for forty years, you will force us to leave?"

Karrde cleared his throat, raising his voice against the oncoming debate. "Before we start hammering out permanent details, why don't we all get onboard the _Errant Venture_? I wouldn't want you to run out of air in the middle of an argument." He met my gaze and winked. I stifled a laugh.

"Wait a minute." Callista's soft voice gained everyone's attention. She faced Luke. "What do we do about Lumiya and the Vagaari?"

For a moment, everyone was quiet. "We can't let them escape the Redoubt," said Formbi. "If they get to Brask Oto…"

"They'll destroy it," Fel continued for him. "Then they'll come after the rest of the Chiss, then the allies of the Chiss. We can't let that happen. We have no idea how many Vagaari actually exist."

"There were two ships docked with Outbound Flight," Karrde said. "I'm assuming the smaller, unmanned vessel was the Vagaari ship. They must have all transferred over to the missing dreadnaught, because nobody shot at us upon our approach."

"We must follow them," Formbi said. "We will take the _Chaf Envoy_."

"No," said Luke softly. He met Karrde's gaze, who nodded in return. "We need to go after them. We need to make sure Lumiya is stopped."

.

.

_You ready? _

The soft voice rang inside my mind. I turned to look upon my husband, and nodded. _May the Force be with you, _I sent to him

He gave me a faint smile in return, then rushed into the dreadnaught with Callista in tow. The rest of the Jedi, the Chiss soldiers, and the stormtroopers followed them. Eventually, the only people left in the docking bay were LaRone and me.

The evacuation of Outbound Flight happened more efficiently than I imagined. It didn't take long before the more than two hundred colonists had transferred to the _Errant Venture_. Personal belongings were left behind; they would return to the ship later on, once the permanent fate of the colony was decided.

The _Chaf Envoy_ had taken some damage from the Vagaari, but the crew was largely uninjured. The Chiss soldiers, Formbi, and Drask insisted on coming about the _Errant Venture _to pursue the dreadnaught, as did Fel and the rest of the Empire of the Hand. Jinzler also came along, saying he needed to see this mission to the end, and was currently stationed on the bridge of the Star Destroyer.

Not only had Karrde enlisted the help of the Jedi, he'd also brought along some of Luke's old Rogue Squadron friends. They would disable the dreadnaught while the ground forces boarded the ship, corralling the Vagaari to a central location. I still couldn't believe the team Karrde had assembled in such a short amount of time. All of Luke's friends…all of _my _friends…it was more than a bit overwhelming.

Again with the pregnancy hormones.

Luke hadn't bothered to request that I stay behind on the _Chaf Envoy_, but he did ask that I remain on the _Errant Venture_. My look of disgust was the only answer he received. I did, however, agree to stay behind the front lines. LaRone and I would follow Luke and Callista as they pursued Lumiya. The other Jedi would attack the bridge, further disabling the dreadnaught and neutralizing the Vagaari threat.

I didn't like being apart from Luke, especially in battle. But I still wasn't up to full strength and decided not to tempt fate any further. Besides, I could sense Luke through the Force, and would be ready to do my part when the time came.

.

.

Several minutes later, that moment arrived. "It's time to go," I informed LaRone. He snapped to attention, as bothered as I was by staying behind. We were both soldiers, bred and raised to fight. As the thought went through my mind, I smiled, remembering how well we'd worked together during our time in the Empire. Wondering what might have been if things had been different. But now was not the time to wonder.

"Are they in trouble?" LaRone asked.

I shook my head. "Not yet, at least. Come on."

We hurried through the dreadnaught. LaRone followed my directions without question. Luke and Callista were fighting Lumiya somewhere deep within the ship. I could see the fight almost as if through my own eyes. I ran faster, wanting to be in the thick of things, wanting to help. I felt Luke's reassurance that everything would be okay, but that did not matter. I _hated _being apart from him.

The other Jedi had pushed back the Vagaari to the bridge, keeping our path safe. And then I could feel it: we were closing in on Luke. I moved faster, my body tingling with anticipation…

And as we rounded the corner, I saw them. Luke, Callista, and Lumiya, locked in fierce combat. Lumiya looked just as she had when we dueled on Caprioril, her red hair now covered with her triangular headdress. Even from far away I could see that her eyes had returned to their normal hard, deep green. She had lost her regular weapon—her lightwhip—and Luke and Callista had cornered her into an open doorway. Lumiya struck out with a lightsaber, and my jaw clenched when I saw that it was Anakin Skywalker's. She must have taken it from Luke during the battle.

The blue blade swung through the darkened corridor and slashed Callista on the shoulder. The older woman yelped, but did not falter. Lumiya sneered at her and said something I could not hear. The air compressed around me as Luke stepped forward and reached out his palm, throwing Lumiya through the open doorway.

He glanced in my direction. _Now!_

I was already moving, yelling at LaRone, "Go!" LaRone ran forward and threw a suppression bomb through the doorway. Luke had already grabbed Callista's arm and was pulling her back down the corridor, away from the explosion. They fell to the ground and wrapped their arms around their heads for cover as the explosion spilled into the corridor.

It grew deathly quiet.

Somehow, I crawled to Luke and Callista and helped them to their feet. Luke leaned against me in relief. Callista was clutching her shoulder but otherwise looked uninjured. LaRone stood next to the doorway, looking inside at the impact of the explosion. After a few moments, he tapped his helmet, as if listening to a comlink transmission, and turned to us. "We should get back to the others. They need help tracking down the Vagaari who escaped the bridge."

Luke nodded. "Right." We made to follow LaRone…but then there was an unmistakable stirring in the Force, and I froze. Luke caught my discomfort immediately. "Mara? Mara, what's wrong?"

I gazed back at the doorway, seeing inside the room for the first time. It had been an observation room, with a floor-to-ceiling viewport lining the far expanse of the wall. The explosion had torn chairs from the floor and buckled the transparisteel. The room looked deserted, like a disaster area, with no signs of life.

But the Force was telling me differently.

"She's still alive," I whispered in disbelief.

Luke's eyes widened in shock. He closed them and reached out into the Force to confirm my suspicions. When he did, he held out his arm and moved toward the room. "Stay here."

But I placed my hand on his arm, stopping him. "No, Luke. Let me go."

Of course he wanted to protest, but I didn't get him the chance. I entered the room alone, knowing that this was what I was supposed to do. This is what my dreams had been preparing me for: to settle unfinished business; to rid this threat to my life. For as long as Lumiya lived, she'd come back to haunt my family, and that was something I could not allow.

My lightsaber hummed to life as I searched the room for Lumiya. I felt Luke enter behind me but he stayed at the door, realizing what this task meant to me. And then all thoughts of Luke flew out of my mind as I practically stumbled upon Lumiya, lying on the floor in a twisted mass of durasteel.

Her headpiece had shifted from her head, allowing strands of red to fall into her face. Her body was contorted at a sick, unnatural angle. The old scars on her body stood out in stark relief to the new cuts and bruises. Her armor was shredded, showing vulnerable glimpses of deathly pale skin.

Her eyes opened, confronting me with a green maelstrom of anger. I felt my own eyes widen, and the once firm grip on my lightsaber loosened so that the weapon almost fell from my hand.

We stared at each other for along moment, both of us unable to move—Lumiya from her injuries, and me from the emotions coursing through my veins. For so long, I'd wondered _why me_? Why had I survived where others had fallen? Why had I changed when others had not?

And now, as I stared at Lumiya, I realized just how easily it could have been me lying on that floor. Me with the broken body; the empty, black heart. Just one simple decision—to not kill Luke in cold blood, as all it took to change my life…

The moment came to a close when Lumiya coughed, blood spattering from her lips. "Go ahead," she hissed, her words sharp with anger. "Finish the job your husband started."

Her voice held the same, steel pitch it'd always been, but I heard her differently. _Come fly with me, Ace,_I heard her say, in another lifetime. An image of her in a Rebel flight suit dashed through my mind, followed by one of Luke, sitting by her side and laughing. Their eyes locked; there was a stolen kiss…

_dancing in the Imperial Palace…bowing before the Emperor…shooting an Imperial governor in the head_

My head shook on its own accord. I fell to my knees, both in an effort to get closer to Lumiya but also because I couldn't stand any longer. "No…you can come with us." I couldn't even recognize the words coming out of my mouth. I knew how stupid they were. I knew that she wanted us dead more than anything in the universe.

But I could not kill her. I could not leave her there to die. I could not walk away without giving her the same chance at redemption that someone had once given me. Had anyone ever tried?

Luke had, once. Even if I couldn't see her memories, I'd know the truth. He'd reached out to her…_Please, Shira, let me help you…_

Her face sparked with derision and disgust. "Get away from me," she spat. "Traitorous whore."

Lumiya had lashed out at him, too, damning him for breaking her body and swearing revenge. _We could have had it all…you did this to me…_

Her words didn't hurt me. I couldn't hurt any more than I already was. I could feel her pain, not just of body but also of spirit. How many years had I wasted, wandering the galaxy filled with such similar hatred?

_Caprioril…magenta blade against lightwhip…you will kill Luke Skywalker_

"Don't you understand, Shira?" I whispered. Green eyes, an echo of mine, flashed at that name, but I kept speaking. "This is exactly what he wanted! Us fighting one another…don't you remember?"

"I remember." Her body spasmed with another cough. "I remember thinking that one day, you would betray him. And I was right."

"He's dead, Shira. You don't have to serve him anymore!"

I reached out to grasp her hand but she thrashed out, shirking out of my grip. "Don't touch me!"

_you will be an extension of my will_

"Shira." Luke's voice was so soft, so different…over ten years of change from the last time they'd spoken…but one thing always remained the same. He knelt down next to me and gazed at Lumiya, his blue eyes a mix of regret, pain, anger, sadness. I remembered that look from long ago, from a forest on Myrkr.

_and you took it all away from me_

Lumiya laughed, the gravelly noise echoing eerily throughout the empty room. "Come to gloat, Skywalker?"

"No, Shira. You know I wouldn't do that."

"Right. You're the perfect little rebel who destroys people he once cared about with no regrets. I forgot."

_if only for that you deserve to die_

"Don't you understand?" I grabbed her hand in a firm grip, not letting go this time when she violently jerked away. Our gazes locked again, a moment frozen in time. It was like looking into a mirror and the only thing keeping me from falling was the feel of her hand in mine. "I know how you feel. We're not very different. Come with us, please!"

_"Don't touch me!"_ I could sense Callista and LaRone at the doorway, Lumiya's scream having drawn their attention. "I could _never _be like you. You betrayed our master…if only for that, you deserve to die."

My hand dropped from hers.

_you have no idea how much I hate you right now, Skywalker_

"Shira, please," Luke whispered. "Come with us."

Her hand snapped up to grab Luke's wrist. For a moment, her eyes flashed red and yellow with murderous intent…

_now I finally feel free_

The spell was broken. We weren't the same after all.

Her eyes cooled and hardened. Her grip tightened. "My name is _Lumiya_."

_transparisteel breaking…air rushing out of my lungs…holding on for dear life_

I was already on my feet when Luke yelled for me to run. I whipped around and started running just as Lumiya threw back her free arm. Aided by the Force, a piece of metal from the opposite side of the room flew through the air and smashed into the viewport directly behind us. It embedded deeply into the transparisteel. Cracks formed on the surface—

I saw nothing else. Luke broke free of Lumiya's grasp, using all of his strength in the Force, and _pushed _me away even though I was already dashing for the doorway. I pulled a breathing apparatus from the wall and shoved it in my mouth, forcing myself to breathe steadily for the baby growing inside of me. As the atmosphere drained from the room I dug my feet into the ground, reaching for anything to hold on to. I found it in the form of an arm; it was Callista, pulling me into the corridor. Luke grabbed hold of LaRone's hand and the door frame, at the same time keeping a firm hold on my body with the Force.

The chaos quickly ended. The blast doors slammed shut after only a few moments, throwing the room into a web of dark shadows before the emergency lumapanels kicked in.

My heart was pounding, and it needed to stop. I needed to be calm. I closed my eyes and reached into the Force; felt Luke's presence against mine. Slowly I got my bearings and turned back into the room. I crossed to the now-hidden viewport, almost frightened for what I might see.

Lumiya's body was gone.

I stood there in the otherwise empty room, staring at the empty space on the floor, feeling completely numb. Then Luke was at my side. He held out his hand. I glanced down to see my old lightsaber in his palm. I glanced up and met his gaze, his eyes filled with immense pride.

_because you've earned it_

He placed the weapon in my hand and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "One thing I've learned is that some people don't want to be saved."

_but you did_

I swallowed a lump in my throat, unable to respond.

"Come on." His fingers were warm as they rubbed my collarbone. "Let's get you out of here."


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

.

.

True to his words, Luke silently escorted me back to the _Errant Venture _where I was given the once over by the ship's medic. Even though she declared me to be in perfect health, I made myself suck down another bottle of water. The confrontation with Lumiya had left me shaken and stressed. I needed to relax, to stop wondering what might have been. I needed to focus on the here and now; on the future instead of the past.

Which, of course, is easier said than done.

Luke stayed with me in the medbay but we didn't talk much. It was one of those moments where nothing we said could truly convey our emotions. My husband would defend me to the death but I knew that, deep down, he did not want to resort to killing Lumiya. Her life in the Alliance may have been a lie, but he'd once cared deeply for the girl named Shira Brie.

Once I was finished, we went back to the dreadnaught. The Jedi had already organized a strike team to pursue the remaining Vagaari, along with members of the CEDF and the Empire of the Hand. I surprised myself when I made no move to volunteer. Luke also remained silent. While we'd always be drawn to danger, perhaps we both realized that we'd had enough fighting for a while.

As we made our way through the hallways of the dreadnaught, my thoughts kept drifting back to my nightmares. I wondered why the Force had sent me those visions, why I had premonitions of facing Lumiya again. What had caused the dreams to morph, and then turn the tide of our fight in reality? I didn't know. I didn't know if I ever would really understand. But in the end, it didn't matter. I'd spent so many years analyzing my past mistakes—from Jabba's Palace to Wayland—and could never really understand why I had changed. Why Luke had believed in me.

The only answer I could ever come up with was that I deserved it.

Eventually we met up with Fel and LaRone, who were preparing to depart the dreadnaught. Fel was returning to Nirauan while LaRone would be accompanying the other Jedi.

The good-bye with LaRone was bittersweet. I was grateful to know that he had survived the events of Poln Major. That was the first time I could remember feeling close with another human being. At the time I hated it, saw it as a sign of weakness. But now I didn't care. LaRone was my friend, and if that made me weak then so be it. If my time in the Jedi Order had taught me one thing, it was that friendship and love are the strongest allies of all.

My stomach jolted, as if to tell me to stop being so introspective and moody, and I laughed. Perhaps my child would have my dark sense of humor. The thought buoyed me.

After LaRone left, Luke and I stood facing Soontir Fel, the air thick and awkward. In truth, it wasn't Fel's fault for putting us in this situation. It was Formbi's, but he was suspiciously absent. Still, Luke was not happy with all the lies and deception. I could tell that, in the end, Fel was unhappy with all that as well. "Will you be returned to Yavin IV?"

Luke nodded. "Yes. I think we both deserve some much needed rest."

"Yes." Fel smiled tightly. "I have several children myself. I advise you to get all the rest that you can right now."

"We'll keep that in mind. I do have one more question."

"Anything."

"What were LaRone and his men _really _doing when they stumbled upon Lumiya?"

"We already told you."

"And like many other things you told us on this mission, I wonder how much of that was the actual truth."

Fel gave Luke a considering look. "I guess I owe you that much."

"Damn right you do."

Fel sighed. "There are things in the Unknown Regions…threats…unlike you have ever imagined."

Luke cocked his head. "What kind of threats?" I could tell what he was thinking—more Sith like Lumiya? Is that while she was out there in the Unknown Regions?

"All kinds," Fel responded. "Pirates, warlords—you name it, it exists. You saw the damage the Vagaari did, and there were so few of them. Some groups in the Unknown Regions amount to the millions. If they were to ever make their way into the Core…"

'We'd be there to fight them," I said firmly. "That's what the Jedi do."

"I hope so."

"Is that why you were on Nirauan to begin with? Because Thrawn sold you on vague threats?" Luke asked.

"He did recruit us, but not through vague threats," Fel insisted. "Especially one of them. Thrawn referred to them as the Far Outsiders. We've been trying to find them for years. That was why we invited Mara to Nirauan three years ago—I knew she would be a valuable asset to the Empire of the Hand in seeking out these threats."

I shook my head. "I gave you my answer then, Fel, and it stands. You may be different without Sate Pestage around, but I'm a Jedi now."

"Right. Perhaps…perhaps it is time for us to stop being so secretive, and to instead work together in harmony."

"I've been trying to convince the New Republic to open diplomatic relations with the Empire of the Hand for quite some time," Luke said. "Perhaps that would be the first step to better cooperation with other groups, as well."

"I can only hope. Because if these Far Outsiders ever make their way into the galaxy…"

"What do you know about them?" I demanded. "Let's start the cooperation right now."

"Unfortunately, that information died along with Palpatine and Thrawn."

"Palpatine?" Luke's disbelief was clearly evident. "Are you telling me that they knew about these Far Outsiders and were trying to save the galaxy? That the Death Star was some benevolent super weapon meant to save the galaxy from alien oppressors?"

"That's not what I'm saying at all," Fel reassured him. "But he did know about them. I'm certain of it."

"It doesn't matter," I told him. "So Palpatine knew about the threat. He just used that information to get what he wanted and subjugate the galaxy. I can guarantee that's how he conscripted Thrawn to his side."

"Perhaps." Fel looked pensive as he contemplated my words. He shrugged. "It doesn't really matter, though. That's all in the past."

Luke and I shared a glance. "Yes," Luke said finally, a hard edge to his voice. "We can only focus on the future, right?"

"That's right. I do apologize for all of this." Fel's voice twisted. "It was not my intention for any of this to happen."

"None of us did." It was as much forgiveness as Luke could muster at the moment, but it was forgiveness nonetheless. I said nothing, merely nodded in agreement. Sometimes, it was best to let Luke do the talking. Fel nodded back.

"But Soontir?" Luke said, as the other man began to walk away. Fel turned around. Luke drew close to him and placed a sheet of flimsy in his hand. "If you want to truly focus on the future…."

Fel glanced down at the flimsy. His eyes widened in recognition. His nod was almost imperceptible. Then he pocked the flimsy and walked away.

I drew next to Luke as we watched Fel disappear down the corridor. "What did you give him?"

"You know what," Luke responded without looking at me.

"Do you think he'll finally change his mind?"

"I don't know. But if he's really convinced there's this big threat out there…who knows." Luke shrugged. "I had to try. Family's all we have, right?"

I took his hand and squeezed it. "Right."

.

.

After saying good-bye to Fel, there was only one other person left to see. We found Callista on the bridge, talking with some of the colony leaders. Her face brightened upon seeing us, and she hurried over to greet us. "Are you okay?" she asked me.

"Yes. I got a clean bill of health," I told her. "No need to worry."

She smiled. "I'm glad."

"How's everything with the colony?"

"Well, the dreadnaught is ours again. We'll be returning to the wreckage to retrieve some personal effects. Then we will need to find a new home."

Luke glanced at me and I nodded, urging him to continue. We'd both agreed that this was the right thing to do. "We would be glad to have you on Yavin IV," Luke said. "As well as the other Force sensitives in the colony."

Callista did not look surprised by his overture. "Thank you," she said, almost reluctantly. "But I don't think I can do that."

Luke's eyes widened, not expecting that reaction. We'd worked together so well on the mission that he'd just assumed that Callista would jump at the opportunity to rejoin the ranks of the Jedi. "Why not?"

"For several reasons. But most of all, I'm not sure if I belong there. The colony is my home, Luke. It has been for forty years. I can't just abandon them now."

"But we can learn so much from you!"

"You can do that no matter where I am," she reminded him.

Luke opened his mouth to protest, but closed it. "We understand," I said. "But we do hope that you will not remain a stranger."

"How could I?" she said teasingly. "I will never forget climbing up that turbolift pylon."

I laughed. "Trust us, neither will I."

Callista's eyes sparkled. "At least I had a nice view," she said teasingly.

I grinned. "You got that right."

Luke turned a bright shade of red and cleared his throat over our laughter. "So, um, where will you go now?"

Callista ran a hand through her brown hair as her laughter subsided. "General Fel invited us to join them on Nirauan, in the Empire of the Hand. The colony leaders agree that it would be the best course of action."

Indeed, it was a logical move. The members of the Outbound Flight colony had wanted to escape the Republic. They wouldn't be happy rejoining the galaxy, especially after so long on their own.

"I wish you the best of luck, then." Luke extended his hand. Callista accepted it gratefully. "And I hope that you will always consider yourself a member of the Jedi Order."

"Of course." Callista shook Luke's hand. "After all, you need Jedi in all reaches of the galaxy, right?"

"Right." Just then Kyp Durron entered the bridge, asking to speak to Luke about the upcoming mission to pursue the Vagaari. Luke excused himself and stepped out into the corridor with Fel. By that time the other colony leaders had also left the bridge, leaving Callista and me alone.

"I have to thank you again," I said. "For everything."

Callista waved her hand. "It was nothing. Are you sure you're all right?" She eyed my stomach.

I rubbed a hand over my belly. "Perfect, actually. He's been quiet."

"It's a he?"

"I haven't had a chance to confirm it yet, but I'm pretty certain."

"Do you have a name picked out?"

"We haven't talked about that yet. I'm pretty sure Luke would like the name Ben, though, after Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"What about you?"

I shrugged. "Other than Talon Karrde, I haven't really had any good male role models in my life. I think Ben would be a fine name."

"Obi-Wan was a fine Jedi. I think it's a lovely name." Callista paused, still eying my stomach surreptitiously. "Have you given any thought to if it's a girl?"

"No. That would probably be even harder. I mean, we could name a daughter Padme or Beru, after Luke's mother and aunt…again, I don't really have any female role models."

Callista wore a pained expression. "Right. Mara…can I show you something?"

"Sure."

She motioned for me to sit at one of the bridge stations. After a few keystrokes the data screen lit up. "This is the Outbound Flight passenger manifest."

"Oh." I wasn't sure why she was showing me this, and then it dawned on me. "Are Obi-Wan and Anakin on this list, or were their entries erased upon their departure?"

"No, they're still on."

"Luke needs to see this!" I grew excited as I thought about the ramifications. It had been very difficult to find information about Anakin Skywalker. The only things Luke knew were from his memories and his grandmother's journal that Leia found on Tatooine, along with several other vague sources. One of the reason's he'd come on this mission was the possibility of finding information about the old Jedi Order. This information would be beyond his wildest dreams…

"Don't worry, I'll show him. But first…" Callista trailed off as she flipped through a few screens. "I want to show you something." She finally stopped on a passenger profile screen.

My eyes narrowed as I read the name out loud. "'Diya Rohan.' That was your friend, right?" I'd nearly forgotten about her after all the chaos with Lumiya.

Callista nodded. "This was her, yes."

"I'm sorry we never figured out what happened to her."

Callista turned to me, an unreadable expression on her face. "Actually…I think that I know the answer to that question." With that she pressed another key and a hologram sprang to life in front of us.

And I stared.

The hologram was in miniature, the typical bluish color. But the facial structure, the hair, the mannerisms of the woman as she smiled to someone off camera…

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "That's Diya Rohan?"

Callista nodded slowly. "Yes."

I finally managed to tear my eyes away from the hologram to look at the data screen. The passenger manifest contained basic data such as date of birth, planet of origin, height, hair color.

My height.

Red hair.

It was the face from my memories.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" I tried to keep the accusing tone out of my voice.

"I wasn't certain," Callista explained. "When I first saw you, it was like looking into the past. But I convinced myself that it had to be a coincidence. Diya always abided by the rules, you see. She would never have had a child. So I just played it off as my mind playing tricks on me. And after you told me about the possibility of Diya Rohan being Rida Hano, I gave up on the idea entirely. But as I got to know you more, I became convinced that there had to be some connection between the two of you. I didn't have a holo of Diya to show you—"

"That's what you were doing on the bridge, wasn't it? Trying to find her records?"

"Yes. I wanted to show you what Diya looked like, and I knew it would help determine who Rida Hano _really _was." She almost reached out to touch my hand but stopped herself at the last minute, almost as if she was afraid of my reaction. "I would have told you my suspicions sooner, but after that there just wasn't a proper opportunity."

"No…no. It's fine. You were right to wait. I would have wanted proof." My eyes drifted over to the holo again. It was like looking into a mirror. "You two were friends?"

"Very good friends. We met on a mission right after we both were Knighted, and instantly became friends. After that, we always requested to go on missions together, even though she was based on Coruscant and I wasn't."

"What was she like?"

"She was strong, capable, full of spirit…just like you."

My hand came to my mouth to stifle a cry. "You said she hated Palpatine?"

"Hate is a strong word, for a Jedi…but yes. She strongly disliked him."

"Tell me about it?"

"Oh, she just never believed that he was the benevolent politician he presented himself to be. And unlike the other Jedi, she wasn't shy about hiding her suspicions." Callista let out a laugh. "Palpatine wanted to have Jedi advisors, probably as a way to keep tabs on the Order. For some reason Diya was included. She told me that during one of the first meetings, she stormed out of his office in disgust. After that, she was politely excused from the assignment."

My eyes grew wet. "That's why he took me, isn't it? To get back at her?"

Callista took my hand. "It's not your fault, Mara."

"No…no it's not. It was all _him_." But I wouldn't let the old memories get in the way of this moment. This was a happy moment, not a time for regrets.

"You are so very much like her. She would have been proud."

This time, I couldn't stop the tears from falling. "I know." It had taken a long time for me to say those words, and now, having a name to put to the face from my memories…

"I'm sorry I don't have anything else to tell you," Callista said. "I can't think of anyone she might have been with—"

I shook my head. "It's okay. This means the world to me. You have no idea."

Callista smiled sadly and placed a hand on my stomach. "I am glad. Whoever he was, he must have been a remarkable man to convince Diya to be with him, and go against everything she'd been taught in her life."

The tears were still falling, but a laugh escaped my throat. "Yeah. I know exactly what you mean."

I felt him then, entering the bridge. My eyes remained on the hologram as Luke approached us from behind. Callista said she'd let us be alone and left to go find the other colony leaders.

Luke took her chair. "Mara, are you okay?"

"Yes." And then something miraculous happened. I felt my baby kick. My eyes widened in disbelief. As if to confirm that I had not been imagining things, the baby kicked again, and I laughed in delight. I took Luke's hand and placed it on my belly. I could sense his wonder at feeling our child for the first time, but then his attention turned to the hologram.

"Who's that?" he asked, even though he already knew. What else could give me such a sense of wonderment and euphoria?

"That's Diya Rohan." My fingers threaded through his. "My mother."


	14. Epilogue

_A/N: I would like to thank ginchy_amanda for her help in planning and beta-ing this fic. There were many times when I got discouraged and wanted to throw in the towel, but her enthusiasm for this story made me want to finish. Thank you all for reading this story. _

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EPILOGUE

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It is quiet. I take a deep breath, reveling in the peace as the wild bundle in my arms finally falls into a peaceful slumber. It appears that the only times she will be quiet is when she is eating or sleeping. For some reason, that doesn't surprise me. Even during my pregnancy, I could tell that she was going to be a little spitfire.

"Night-night, Diya," I tell her, and she responds by pursing her tiny lips. I can't help but reach out and run a finger over her cheek. I've always thought that newborns were odd-looking but to me, she is perfect.

When Luke and I found out we were having a girl, we didn't even need to debate names. Diya was the only option. I don't have many memories of my mother, the Jedi Knight named Diya Rohan, but what I can remember tells me all I need to know. She was brave and strong, and kept me safe from the Empire for as long as she could. She died to protect me. The existence of this baby in my arms—Diya Skywalker—is just another in a long line of _kriff you_s to Palpatine. "If he could see us now, huh Diya?"

My daughter answers by letting out a muffled cry. Instantly I reach out into the Force to calm her, not wanting her to wake when it is so mercifully quiet. This child is going to be different, I think ruefully. No more peaceful nights of sleep for mommy and daddy.

Just then I feel a nudge with the Force. It is my husband at the door. _Come in_, I tell him.

Luke appears in the doorway, followed by a red-headed toddler who is still awkward on his feet. The boy's face lights up when he sees me. "Mama!" Sensing that our son is about to take off, Luke grabs by the waist and brings him over to see me.

"See, Ben? It's Mommy and your new sister."

Ben does not respond, his eyes glued to the baby in his arms, and my heart skips a beat.

About five months after Luke and I returned from the Outbound Flight mission, Ben was born. With a few exceptions, he was a wonderful baby. He was quiet, slept through the night, and always happy. It was enough to make me consider having another child sooner rather than later.

But the morning I received confirmation from Cilghal that I was pregnant was a little too soon for my tastes. Ben was barely nine months old and I had no intentions of getting pregnant again until he was potty trained, but the Force had other ideas. I spent that afternoon in tears, wondering how in the galaxy I was going to be able to take care of two babies at once. My boast to Han Solo—about Ben staying an only child for a very long time—came back to haunt me. _Corellian twins,_ I could hear him teasing. _I told you so._

But Luke was ecstatic; especially when we found out it was going to be a girl. And when he suggested we name our daughter Diya, I knew that everything was going to be okay. I had my moments during my pregnancy, especially on the rare occasions Luke had to leave home for Jedi business. But now, seeing my son and daughter meet for the first time…I have never been happier.

"Hi, buddy," I say to my son. "This is your sister, Diya. Can you say hi?"

Ben's face scrunches up, as if he is unsure of what to make of the small human lying in my arms. But then he breaks out into one of his trademark grins, just like his father. "Di-Di!"

"No, Ben. Her name is Diya."

"Di-Di!"

"Dee-_yah_."

"DI-DI!"

Luke laughs and places a gentle hand on our daughter's soft fuzz of reddish hair. "Sorry, Diya. It looks like you've already gotten your first nickname."

Diya yawns, letting us know that she is unimpressed. Ben continues to mumble "Di-Di" as he clambers from his father's arms to nuzzle at my side. Luke pulls a chair next to the bed and we sit quietly for a long time, content with watching our children.

Then there is another knock at the door and the aforementioned Han Solo sticks his head inside, smiling broadly. "So, can we come in yet?"

Luke motions for his brother-in-law to enter. "Come on in. But be quiet, she's finally sleeping."

Han, Leia, and the children enter the room as quietly as possible, which, given that the children are seven- and five-years-old, is not very quiet at all. And when Ben sees his cousins, he reaches his arms out to his father, wanting to get down _right now _and go play with them.

Leia is the first to approach the bed. "Oh Mara, she's beautiful!" Tears are glistening in her eyes. "Can I hold her?"

"Go right ahead." Carefully I transfer Diya into her aunt's arms. Leia's grin is infectious as she greets her niece for the first time.

"Hello, little girl! Oh, it's so nice to have another girl in the family."

"Don't get your hopes up," Han says, wrapping his arm around his wife's shoulder. "With this one for a mom, she'll be more interested in vibroblades than dresses."

I roll my eyes. "Cute, Solo. I'll have you know that learning the best places to hide a vibroblade is a very useful skill."

"I'll keep that in mind."

The banter is forgotten as Leia continues to dote on her new niece. She presents Diya to her cousins, and they all _ooh_ and _ahh_, especially Jaina. Even though he is only a toddler and can't really understand what's going on, Ben still radiates pride through the Force, as if he knows that the baby in Leia's arms is his baby sister and it is his job to protect her.

If she lets him, of course. Judging by how loud she cries, she'll do a pretty good job of taking care of herself.

After a while Luke gets restless and takes Diya from Leia's arms. His eyes and his Force sense explode in happiness as he holds his daughter. I know that Diya has no chance; her father was smitten from the moment he laid eyes on her. He is going to be overprotective, smothering—in other words, a perfect father.

But then again, he already is. He always got up with Ben in the middle of the night—still does, actually. I never have to ask him for help. He is always willing and happy to do more than his fair share around the house, especially after I became pregnant with Diya. It is more than I could ever have hoped for…more than I ever deserved. Or so I once thought.

For many years I've wondered what my life would be like if I'd never met Luke. Why I was able to change when others, like Lumiya, didn't want to. What made me special? Was it the Will of the Force for me to live this life? Or was it something else, something that was taught to me by my parents during the first years of my life and could never be eradicated from my memory, no matter how hard Palpatine tried?

But now I realize that none of those questions really matter. I look around the room, at my children—one nestled in my husband's doting arms, the other chasing after his older cousins. Diya starts to scream and Han covers his ears, muttering that she inherited her aunt's mouth. Leia smacks him and he pulls his arm back, feigning pain. Then he meets my eye and winks. He knows what I'm thinking. He's wondered the same thing, too, about his own family. But we're here right now, and that is all that matters.

I reach out my arms and Luke hands over our daughter. Her screams quiet to whimpers and eventually she settles down completely as our blue and green eyes lock in a look of mutual understanding. I smile at her.

What could have been? No, it doesn't matter at all.

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**FIN**

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_A/N 2: I have ideas for future fics in this universe, but am not sure when or if I will get back to them. My plans for Diya Skywalker are that she decides she would rather be an intelligence agent than a Jedi, and after going to university she gets a job working for her Uncle Karrde. Karrde calls this payback for Luke stealing away his favorite former employee. Ben becomes a Jedi and ends up with Jysella Horn, much to Mara's and Mirax's delight. As for Diya, she most definitely does not have a crush on Winter and Tycho's son, Nico. Nope, she most definitely does not. _

_MTFBWY! _


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